The kiss that changed it all
by IamMu-chan
Summary: It was meant to be a harmless first kiss-simply in order to 'get it out of the way'.But the feelings that erupted within both of them that night have the power to change their friendship into something more...if only they would admit it. Seddie! Plz R
1. Chapter 1: A kiss

**The kiss that changed it all**

_Hello all!_

_This is just a little story that I thought would be fun to write - what really went on in Freddie and Sam's minds the night they shared their first kiss?? And what could happen afterwards if I twisted the events to my liking? ;-) Please read to find out more and don't forget to review afterwards!!! Your comments anfd feedback is much appreciated!_

_Lotsa love,_

_IamMu-chan_

**Chapter One**

A kiss

"Well…should we?" Freddie asked uncertainly, wringing his hands in his lap as he looked at the blonde girl across from him for a reaction.

Sam took a deep breath, contemplating her situation slightly. She had made Freddie's life hell over the last week by telling all the iCarly viewers that he had never kissed anyone before…despite the fact that she had never even done the same. When she had completed Freddie's train of thought earlier, and therefore suggested that the two of them share their first kiss, she surprised herself at first. Normally she would have physically assaulted Freddie in some way or other for even thinking it, but the problem was that she had been thinking exactly the same thing. She didn't know whether it was because she was feeling sorry for herself about not having kissed anyone before, or guilty because she had almost crushed Freddie's self esteem even further than she usually did. Something that she didn't even begin to consider was that maybe she _wanted _to give Freddie her first kiss.

"Just so both of us can get it over with?" he shrugged, seeming shy about pressing on with the subject.

Despite the fact that Sam criticized, abused and made fun of him on a daily basis, Freddie couldn't deny the fact that he actually enjoyed Sam's company…most of the time. There were two sides to Sam that he knew – the over-the-top, tomboy/bad girl type that she portrayed to everyone around her was a side that he had originally pegged Sam out to be…and nothing more. Considering the development of their friendship, however, Freddie began to see a different side to the rebellious teenager before him. She was thoughtful and considerate to people who were able to gain her respect; such as Carly, her best friend, and her brother, Spencer. Sam possessed a rough exterior in order to shield herself from the difficulties and pressures of life, but he had begun to see through her façade to the true person who lay dormant within. She revealed this aspect of herself on occasion, just as she was doing now in the form of her heartfelt apology. He knew that she was a lot more than she appeared to be, and this forced him to develop a deep admiration for her, despite her hurtful actions towards him.

Sam let out a small thoughtful sound, taking another deep breath and pursing her lips slightly, almost as if she was imagining what the kiss may feel like before she answered.

"_Just _to get it over with," she stated clearly, showing him that there were no hidden intentions on her part.

"Just to get it over with," he repeated, showing her that he also had nothing to put behind it – no hidden meanings or intentions.

"And you swear we go right back to hating each other as soon as it's over?" she asked, or demanded rather, their knees brushing slightly as she closed the distance between them, moving closer.

"Oh…totally!" he said, pausing slightly, "And we never tell _anyone_," he added for good measure.

"Never!" Sam agreed.

An awkward silence fell between them then. Now that the rules were all set out all that needed to be done was the actual kissing...Freddie's eyes strayed from Sam's face to the opposite end of the area, swallowing slightly. He was the guy, so, technically he should make the first move and lean in, but the slight chance that Sam may still hit him when he tried to kiss her lingered in the air, holding him back. The fact that his stomach had also erupted with butterflies didn't help the situation much either, and he was wrestling with the new emotions that were battling within him.

Sam was feeling just as nervous, and the thought that she would actually be kissing the guy she had been picking on for the last few years made her rethink the situation. Did she really want to share her first kiss with Freddie, the guy she had been calling a dork for years now and who she almost wouldn't be caught dead talking to, let alone kissing! Her mind raced as her stomach twisted in a mixture of excitement and doubt. If only he would just lean in and get it over with before she backed out of it and ruined the moment that the two of them all of a sudden had a chance of sharing.

"Well," she said, before she could stop herself, "Lean!"

Freddie seemed to shake his head slightly at her demand, but, nonetheless, he planted his arms firmly to his sides, grabbing the chair as if it was offering him moral support and leaned towards her. His one hand released the chair and came forward; he had the sudden urge to place the hand on her cheek, but he quickly stopped himself, placing the hand on his knee instead. He didn't expect Sam to close the distance at all, and was surprised when their lips touched sooner than expected. His eyes closed automatically, but not because he thought it was the proper thing to do; the second he and Sam's lips touched a tingling warmth spread through his body, starting at his fingertips and rushing through to his toes. It was a pleasant sensation, and his body's reaction shocked him.

Sam closed the distance between her and Freddie impatiently, still wrestling with her thoughts. She still wasn't sure whether she wanted to do it or not as their lips connected, and she felt Freddy move in closer, his mouth fitting perfectly to hers. His lips were warm and soft, and Sam felt self-conscious as she realized that she hadn't applied anything to her lips the entire day. Her lips were probably dry, and the fact that she kept them tight next to Freddie's didn't help. She hadn't closed her eyes; she was too preoccupied with her thoughts to even think of doing it, and instead she watched Freddie. His eyes were closed, and she could feel a faint heat jumping to his cheeks at their close contact. She loosened her lips slightly, allowing for a small gap to come between them. She could feel Freddy do the same, and she felt his breath wash over her mouth, forcing her to close her eyes as she felt her heart beat quicken. She pulled her lips tight once more, however, not wanting to surrender to her body's sudden urgency, and she opened her eyes again, blinking as Freddie pulled away.

They were both uncertain how long the kiss had actually lasted…to Freddie it seemed to go on forever, and he had unwillingly pulled himself away from Sam when he felt that things could get carried away. When she had relaxed after the first few seconds and allowed her lips to mold to his he had felt a strong urge build inside of him, and he pulled himself away as soon as he felt her lips tense again; she had obviously sensed danger as well. For Sam, however, the kiss had seemed to short. She had taken too long to warm up to it, and when she finally did she had retreated in fear, signaling to Freddie that it was time to stop. He had pulled away, and she had been left wanting more, not understanding the reason why she felt that way.

As they drew apart Freddie couldn't help but approve of the electricity he found hidden in that careless first kiss and he gave a slight nod to himself as Sam cast her eyes downwards in thought. An awkward, yet satisfied silence greeted them once more, and this time Freddie was the one to speak first.

"Well…that was…um…" he trailed off, searching for an appropriate word as Sam stood up hastily.

"Nice," Sam finished for him.

"Yeah, nice," Freddie repeated. It wasn't a word he had wanted to use; "nice" was used for so many meaningless descriptions. He would have preferred something a little more appropriate to how he felt at that moment. He could sense that she felt awkward though, which allowed his spirits to fall slightly.

"Good...work," Sam muttered in clear embarrassment. Her mood was starting to affect Freddie's, and he felt the awkwardness as it clung to the air.

"Thanks, you too," he muttered hastily. How strange was this situation? They were actually thanking each other for their first kiss? Weren't first kisses supposed to be romantic, memorable experiences?

Sam lingered for a few more seconds, not wanting to leave immediately. She couldn't deny the awkward tinge which hung in the air, but she wanted Freddie to say something more. All of a sudden she wanted Freddie to tell her to stay. She wanted to talk…to have him kiss her again. But he said nothing, and instead looked about uncomfortably. She took that as her cue to leave, and she threw her leg over the windowsill, intending to leave in a hurry. Before her other foot had even reached the floor though, she heard him call her attention.

"Hey," he muttered, and she turned around carefully, afraid of what he may say and hoping that he would tell her to stay.

"I hate you," he said, a wide grin plastered over his face, and she knew he was trying to only lighten the situation for the both of them. Despite the fact that she knew this, she couldn't help but feel disappointed. Would what had just happened honestly never affect their relationship? She smiled, despite herself and let out a small breath of laughter.

"Hate you too," she replied, before turning and walking back into the building.

Freddie watched her retreating back, leaning over slightly in order to see her reach the elevator and push the down button in order to head back to Carly's apartment. She glanced back as well, and noticed him looking at her and he dropped his gaze to his feet instead, wringing his hands once more. He heard the slight "ding" of the elevator as it arrived, and refused to look back up until he was sure that Sam had left. He counted backwards from sixty in his head, and finally looked up again. She was indeed gone, and he breathed a deep sigh before slouching backwards.

"What just happened?" he asked himself out loud, putting his hands to his head and running his fingers roughly through his hair.

He knew that he and Sam had had their fights and misunderstandings over the past few years, but despite all of that he knew he had never truly hated her. He had his moments where he absolutely loathed her and couldn't stand being near her, but he always remained her friend and would stick up for her when necessary. He had never seriously considered that he actually liked her more than he let on though.

He was in love with Carly; the moment he had moved into the apartment across the hall from her and had met her for the very first time he knew that she was the girl for him. They had both only been eight years old at the time, but Freddie developed a serious case of puppy love for the girl and he never let go of it. Was that the case though? Were his feelings for Carly simply a case of infatuated puppy love gone too far? Were his feelings, just as his body and voice, maturing away from his childhood days?

Freddie contemplated these thoughts over and over in his head as he lay watching the stars above the Bushwell Plaza…the stars under which he had just shared his first kiss with the most unexpected of girls**.**

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_Please review. ;-)_


	2. Chapter 2: A realization

_Hey all!_

_I couldn't wait to update, so here's Chapter Two in my iCarly fanfic. Just to let you know - I was planning on making it a one-shot story, but I have so many ideas that I just had to carry on! I've decided on making it a collection of generally short chapters however in order to emphasise the pace and the rush of Sam and Freddies relationship from this point onwards._

_Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy it and thank you so much to those of you who reviewed! It means alot to me, and I'd love to hear alot more from you!_

_Love_

_IamMu-chan_

**Chapter Two**

A realization

Sam entered the Shay's apartment absent mindedly, her thoughts still focused on the boy that was sitting upstairs. She barely noticed Carly spread out on the couch, a rerun of Seattle Beat blaring from the television. Sam just headed straight for the fridge, not really paying attention to what she was doing.

"Hey Sam," Carly greeted her, picking up the remote and turning the volume down, "How'd it go?"

"Hmm?" Sam muttered, snapping out of her daze, "W-What do you mean?" she asked nervously, afraid that Carly had already caught on. She was a smart girl after all…

"You know," Carly pressed on, forcing herself into a sitting position and looking expectantly at Sam, "With Freddie? Did he accept your apology? You didn't break his arm or anything, did you?"

Sam smiled over at her friend in relief, remembering how Freddie had feared exactly that when he had realized that she had figured out that he was thinking about kissing her. How long ago that moment seemed after what had just happened between them.

"Na," she said cheerily, abandoning her beeline for the fridge and instead changing direction and plopping herself on the couch next to her best friend.

"I said I was sorry for all the rotten things I'd done to him, including the whole 'telling the world that he's never kissed a girl' thing, and he seemed fine with it. He actually watched iCarly tonight, so he saw me admit to not having been kissed before too…"

"Did he make fun of you for it?" Carly asked with a worried frown caressing her features.

"Na," Sam said again, "We both just made peace with it – called it even."

Sam avoided her friends gaze momentarily – if only she knew what 'calling it even' really meant to them. They had both officially had their first kiss and conquered the social pressure of doing so. She almost felt like they cheated themselves out of having their first proper kiss, but cheating wasn't new to Sam, so it didn't bother her. What did bother her though was how much the kiss actually ended up meaning to her, despite her insistence to Freddie that it was simply 'to get it over with'.

Carly sighed in relief; "Well, that's good news at least," she said, "Seems no one was hurt and we can all get along fine again! Well…as fine as you and Freddie can manage to get along I suppose"

"Hey, I can't help it if he's a total nub," Sam said jokingly, shoving her recent train of thought to the back of her mind, "Someone has to keep reminding him of it!"

She gave a small wink to her friend who giggled slightly before a yawn escaped her mouth. She stretched and looked guiltily over at Sam.

"Sorry, guess I'm kind of tired," she apologized, "You going to spend the night here?"

"No, I think I should head home," Sam replied quickly. She normally stayed over at Carly's without a second thought, but tonight she felt she needed to be alone. She needed to think and figure out the weird pulling in her chest that she all of a sudden felt.

"Ok, well, Spencer could drive you if you want?" Carly carried on, unaware of Sam's slightly distant mood.

"No can do little sis!" Spencer interjected, rounding the corner to his room dressed in nothing but a towel, "I'm about to take my bedtime shower. Once that's taken I can't go anywhere without risking falling asleep!"

'_Carly's brother sure can be a strange cookie at times' _Sam thought to herself as a giggle escaped her lips.

"Then take her _before_ your shower Spence!" Carly moaned, and Spencer's face fell into a pout at his sister's demand.

"No, don't worry!" Sam said, jumping up, "I'll just give my mom a call. It's not that late, so she won't mind coming to get me."

"Are you sure?" Carly asked in concern as Spencer took the opportunity to slip back around the corner to his bathroom, "You could really stay, I don't mind."

"Aw Carls," Sam crooned, reaching forward and ruffling her friends hair slightly, "Don't you see enough of me already? Besides, I should spend at least one Friday night at home before my mom gets all paranoid and thinks I'm going to get myself arrested again."

"Yeah, about that," Carly said, smoothing out her hair again and looking around to find that Spencer was missing in action, "At least_ try_ to stay out of trouble while Spence and I are gone next week?"

"Gone? Gone where?" Sam asked, startled by the news that Carly wouldn't be around next week.

Carly sighed, shaking her head slightly as she rubbed her eyes out of tiredness and frustration.

"We're going to visit my dad, remember?" Carly said matter-of-factly, "Freddie's been complaining about me going and leaving him here all by himself the whole week…oh, well, you barely saw him all week, so you wouldn't know that…"

She trailed off, smiling guiltily.

"Sorry," she said.

Sam shrugged.

"What are you apologizing for? We sorted everything out Carly, don't worry. And of course the dork would complain – he has to spend a whole week alone with me! Of course he'd complain…" Sam repeated, trailing off this time.

Of course…Freddie loved Carly. Through all of the excitement and confusion that she had felt in sharing her first kiss with Freddie she seemed to have forgotten that one important fact. She bet that if he had the opportunity to choose who he would share his first kiss with he would have picked Carly over her hands down. Her face fell in disappointment, startling Carly who was suddenly watching her very closely. Sam had almost thought – or hoped – that Freddie could finally see a different side to her. That he could begin to accept her for the person she knew she was, but rarely showed. But it was obvious that his deep feelings for Carly would overshadow any attempt she made at revealing her true self to him. And heck, she didn't make it easier for him either; who could even think of Sam Puckett having a sensitive, emotional side to her after all the beatings she had given out in her lifetime?

"Sam?" Carly asked uncertainly, trying to read the emotions that were flitting across her best friends face, "Are you okay?"

Sam blinked and looked up at Carly, her green eyes sparkling more than usual in the bright light that hit them, and she seemed dazed for a moment.

"I'm fine Carls," she muttered almost robotically, running her hand through her thick mane of hair uncertainly and looking around for her phone.

"I've got to call my mom before it gets too late," she muttered again, smiling guiltily over at Carly.

"Sam, are you sure?" she said, standing up and handing Sam her cell phone which had fallen out of her pocket earlier when she sat down, "You can really stay!"

"I need to be home tonight Carly," Sam repeated, "But I'll come by tomorrow, ok?"

"Ok," Carly said, brightening up, "Can I ask you one more favour though?"

Sam nodded slowly, in the process of dialing of her mother's number.

"Please be nice to Freddie this week when I'm gone," Carly asked, and Sam caught her breath slightly, making Carly inwardly suspicious again.

'_What's with Sam tonight?'_ she thought to herself, _'What really happened between her and Freddie?_'

"Please?" she repeated, "I don't want to come home to find him splattered all over the studio walls. _At least_ try not to kill him."

Sam smiled then, chuckling quietly to herself, and Carly began to laugh too. The image of Freddie being spread over the walls of the iCarly studio was not a pleasant image, but it was a funny one nonetheless.

"I can't guarantee anything," Sam said with her usual sarcastic charm, "But I'll do my best," she promised, returning to her warm, yet serious tone.

"Thanks," Carly said, and she reached forward to hug her friend, a mischievous glint in her eye. Perhaps giving Freddie and Sam a week to themselves wasn't such a bad idea. Maybe they'd come out as friends at the end of it all.

"Now get to bed silly!" Sam exclaimed, whacking Carly on her backside with the open flap of her phone, "I'll be fine, I'm just going to go down and annoy Lewbert while I wait for my mom."

"Ok, ok!" Carly squealed as Sam chased her to the staircase, "See you tomorrow, ok?

"You betcha!" Sam replied, turning on her heel and quickly exiting through the front door. She sent a final wave in Carly's direction then shut it tight, putting the phone to her ear as she descended the stairs towards the lobby.

Inside her apartment Carly shook her head slightly, stretching her arms over her head and contemplating what to do. Without much thought she hastily went over to the elevator, pushing the 'up' button and waiting for it to descend. She was going to get to the bottom of Sam's weird mood by observing Freddie's upstairs – something happened, and she was determined to find out what it was no matter what.

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_Review please. ;-)_


	3. Chapter 3: The rain

_I'm back everyone!_

_Happy belated New Year!!! hehe_

_I hope you enjoy the new chapter, and if you get the chance be sure to check out my other iCarly (Seddie) story called iHave a Seddie Celebration!! You can also follow me on Twitter if you'd like. :-) Both links can be found in my profile. ;-)_

_Hopefully I'll update again soon, and please don't forget to review! _

_Love IamMu-chan_

**Chapter Three**

The rain

Sam reached the bottom of the staircase, listening to the ringing of her mother's phone in annoyance. She always took too long to pick up, adding to Sam's impatience to get home. She lingered at the bottom of the staircase, not wanting to enter the lobby just yet, still waiting for her mother to answer.

"Hello?" she finally heard her moms tinkling voice at the other end of the line.

"Hey mom, it's me, listen, can you come pick me up at Carly's please? I'm going be sleeping at home tonight." Sam said hastily, voicing her impatience.

"O-oh, tonight?" her mom repeated, sounding flustered. Sam could hear someone laughing quietly in the background, and the sound of the T.V blaring from the room next door.

"Is that ok?" Sam questioned, feeling suspicious all of a sudden.

"No, no it's fine!" her mom said quickly, her voice squeaking slightly in her haste to answer. Or was it something more?

Sam sighed.

"Is someone there mom?" she asked innocently, pretending like she didn't know.

"No it's…it's just that you usually stay at Carly's on Friday nights dear, and I was surprised –"

She was cut off as Sam heard someone calling her from the other room.

"Celeste?" Sam heard, "You going to be much longer babe?"

Sam's mother spluttered slightly, and kept quiet, giving Sam all the conformation she needed. She sighed again, and then took a deep breath.

"It's alright mom," Sam said sadly, "I'll stay over at Carly's tonight if you want, you don't have to worry. Is that Dave I heard?"

Sam could sense her mother's embarrassment on the other end of the line, but she couldn't deny that she was a little upset with her. The one night that she actually wanted to be at home and have her thoughts to herself her mother decided to have her long-time boyfriend over for a romantic evening.

"Yes, it was dear," her mother said softly, "And don't worry, he was just on his way out, so I'll come get you in about twenty minutes, ok? Just wait for me honey, I'll be there soon, alright? Sorry dear…"

Sam smiled slightly now that she'd gotten her way and chuckled to herself.

"Tell him I say hi!" she said quickly before her mom put the phone down, "And that I'm sorry I made you kick him out tonight," she muttered to herself, hearing the tone of the dead line.

She didn't mind her mother's boyfriend much; he spoiled her mom rotten, and sometimes even her on occasion, and he made her mother very happy. He wasn't a bad person, and he certainly brought the best of her mother out when he was around, but Sam just couldn't warm up to him as much as her mother wanted her too. In fact, she struggled to warm up to most people, so her mother really didn't have to take it offensively; Sam barely warmed up to anyone.

She tucked her phone into the back pocket of her jeans, reaching her other hand into her front pocket and extracting a deflated yellow balloon that she had brought along specifically for this purpose. She peeked around the corner to see what she knew she would find – Lewbert fast asleep behind the front desk, his feet propped carelessly up on the table. An evil smile crept its way across her features as she ducked around the corner again, putting the balloon to her mouth and starting to blow it up. She pulled her mouth away after a bit and grimaced at the lingering taste of flour on her tongue, then put the balloon back to her mouth and resumed its inflation. Once she decided it was big enough she tied a knot and then began to creep forward, leaving the shelter of the staircase and bringing herself out into the open.

The lobby was deserted except for the sleeping Lewbert, and Sam held her breath, scared to make the tiniest of sounds in case he might wake up. Her smile grew wider as she realized that this would be perfect material for their next segment of "Messing with Lewbert" on iCarly. Using this as inspiration she turned her head around to face the area where she knew the hidden cameras were located and sent them a thumbs up, pointing to the balloon and then to Lewbert for extra effect as she moved stealthily forward. As she snuck closer, she noticed one of his feet twitch slightly, making her duck down behind the desk, out of his line of sight. She heard a small snore escape his sleeping form, and she took that as the sign that he was still asleep. She straightened up, taking two steps closer so that she was leaning over him, adrenaline rushing through her system as she brought the balloon above him. She reached behind her head and took a hairpin from her hair, bringing it forward and holding it inches away from the flour-filled balloon.

'_Ah, the hairpin,'_ she sighed to herself, _'So many uses – clipping hair back, picking locks…and doing this.'_

With that she slammed the hairpin into the balloon with full force, bracing herself for the explosion of the balloon, as well as the explosion from the man beneath it.

POP!

"Wha-aaaaaahhhhhh!!!" Lewbert shouted in surprise as he was covered from head to torso in white flour, ruining his uniform and settling in clouds around his desk. He looked about frantically to see who had caused it, and he honestly wasn't half surprised to find Sam standing there, brandishing a hairpin in her hand as if she had just joined the Knights of the Round Table.

"You…" Lewbert muttered, his wide eyes reducing to slits as he observed the girl in front of him. He then took a deep breath, and threw his arms up into the air in order to add to the intensity.

"No children in my lobby!!!!!" he shouted, and Sam just stayed rooted to the spot, a wide grin plastered on her face.

"Get out NOW!" he ordered, pointing towards the doorway. Sam calmly placed the hairpin back in her hair and dusted her hands off, not moving an inch, trying to annoy him. It worked.

"NOW!" he shouted again, taking a threatening step towards her.

"Ok, ok I'm going!" she said calmly, not in the least bit frightened, "I don't want to stay in here and listen to you shouting all night now do I?"

Thoroughly impressed with her wicked deed of the night she quickly let herself out of the building through the main door, stepping in the cold night air to find that it was raining. She backed into the building again quickly as the cold rain splattered her face, but soon felt a hand push her back out firmly.

"OUT!" Lewbert yelled for the second time, and Sam pushed back in annoyance.

"Hey!" she protested, "Can't you see it's raining?"

"Do you think I care!?" Lewbert exclaimed, and it was one of the first times that Sam had heard him say anything other than 'out' or 'people in my lobby'. She was so taken by surprise that Lewbert easily shoved her out of the door and shut it tight from the weather, leaving her soaked in mere seconds.

"Thanks a lot you nub!" Sam shouted through the glass, and stuck her tongue out at him as he looked back at her with annoyance. She left the doorway and slouched against the wall of the building, the rain washing her clean of the flour that had managed to spray her during her assault on Lewbert.

She didn't mind standing in the rain; she wasn't going to go back up to Carly's apartment now that she'd already said goodbye – she and Spencer would be in bed now anyway. And she wasn't allowed in the lobby at all, thanks to Lewbert's distinct hate for her. The very last option was to go knock on Freddie's door, and that most definitely wasn't going to happen any time soon, so she didn't mind the rain at all. Her mom would be there soon anyway to pick her up, and then she could have a warm bath at home to fight off the chills. She was a tough kid – she'd had to be tough in order to survive life with her mom at first. It wasn't the first time she stood in the rain, waiting for her mom either…

Sam hugged her arms around her and slid down the wall into a sitting position. She knew she was being stubborn, but that wasn't new to her either. She pulled her knees up to her body and hugged them close, bracing herself for the wait ahead.

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Freddie felt the first of the raindrops not long after Sam had left him alone on the small outcrop which led up to the roof. His face was turned towards the sky when the first raindrop fell lightly on his cheek, running down his face and dripping off of his chin. He put his hand to his cheek in confusion; he had been so lost in thought that he hadn't even noticed the weather turning – the black storm clouds above him looked menacing, and the sudden strong downpour supported his thoughts.

He quickly left his seat on the stairs and scooted over to the windowsill, where the rain was unable to touch him. Thankfully the small section of roof that now sheltered him from the storm jutted out just far enough to protect his radio and laptop that were situated on the small shelf just next to the stairs; at that moment, however, he didn't think he would even notice his equipment being damaged by the rain – that's how preoccupied his thoughts were. Being as analytical as he always was, Freddie listed the facts for almost the fourth time now:

Firstly- and the most apparent – he had kissed Sam. And she had allowed him to do it. That in itself was surprising enough; he had always thought Sam hated the very thought of him, but it was apparent that maybe, just maybe, she had begun to consider him a friend.

Secondly – and the most confusing – he had actually _liked _kissing Sam. This fact was even more surprising than the last because, for a long time he had thought he hated Sam. He knew, of course, that he had begun to consider her as a friend somewhere along the line, but he had never expected that he would begin to feel something more for her. That brought him to his next point:

Thirdly – and most importantly – did Sam secretly feel the same about him as he did for her? Wait, how could he be sure whether he felt the same way for Sam or not? She was the first girl he had ever kissed after all. How would he know that what he felt was actual electricity or just the natural elation of having ones first kiss? This was the point that he had been pondering over the most in this short period of time. This point was linked to the final point of consideration:

Fourthly – what were his true feelings for Sam? No matter how many times he asked himself the question he couldn't come up with a straight answer. He and Sam had been lifelong enemies, ever since the day he had met her. She and Carly were having one of their girly sleepover affairs at her apartment one night; Freddie had never met Sam before this because she and Carly had only recently become friends, and he had felt slightly territorial when he had heard that Carly was hanging out with someone other than him at the Bushwell Plaza. Freddie and Carly had automatically gotten along really well because, in Freddie's eyes, Carly could do no wrong. They spent the afternoons after school in either his or her apartment, eating, talking or building tents out of sheets and chairs. When they weren't doing that they were exploring the apartment building, or where escaping from Lewbert who terrified them both while they were merely only a few feet tall. Freddie's view of Carly altered slightly when he met her knew best friend – he questioned her taste in friends after that, considering himself the only one of her friends who truly cared for her and valued her worth as a friend.

So, when he heard that he had practically been replaced he had become defensive in nature, and decided that no matter who Carly's new friend was he would not get along with her. He would not be her friend. He would not accept any attempt that she made to _be_ his friend. Luckily Sam had made it so much easier than he had expected. He couldn't believe that the two of them had actually started to get along as the years went by, but he believed it was because of their shared admiration of Carly that they managed to form a truce of sorts. Sure, Sam still verbally and physically abused him whenever she got the chance, but they had at least both decided that they wouldn't _entirely_ hate each other…did that mean that it could start to lead something more? Maybe something stronger than even friendship?

Freddie sighed and dropped his head into his hands, frustrated with himself for not being able to answer his own questions. He had always been the one who had all the answers, but in matters of the heart he was completely baffled.

"Freddie?" he heard behind him, and he lifted his head and whipped it around to face the doorway so fast that he felt a slight crack in his neck form the force.

"Ow…" he muttered, placing his hand on his neck and feeling the slight spray of the rain hit his back as a sudden gust of wind forced it to change direction. Carly stood in the doorway, a wide smile plastered on her face as she witnessed the expression of discomfort cross Freddie's face in reaction to the cold wetness which clung to his shirt.

"You okay there Freddie?" she asked, adopting the sarcastic manner that Sam usually portrayed, but somehow her teasing seemed a lot more heartfelt than Sam's did.

"Yeah," Freddie replied, standing up and shrugging out of the blue shirt that was now soaked at the back, and leaving him in a grayish-blue T-shirt that he was wearing beneath it. He was slowly starting to develop some muscle as he matured, and, unbeknown to Sam and Carly, he had started weight training with his mother in the evenings at the gym around the corner from where they lived.

At first his mother was nervous when Freddie suggested to her that he wanted to take out a membership at the gym, but at Freddie's suggestion that the two of them do it together she had agreed simply because she would be able to keep an eye on him. After a few hour-long gyming sessions, however, he noticed that his mom started enjoying the extra exercise and was a lot less observant of what he was doing. She had become a fan of the treadmill and the yoga classes, and Freddie had stuck to cycling and weight training. As a result his calves were beginning to develop nicely, and his biceps were busy firming up from the lifting of the weights. Carly noticed this as the shirt fell from his shoulders, exposing his arms along with the T-shirt that sat almost tightly across his chest.

"Whoa Freddie," she exclaimed while she admired the sudden flexing of his left arm as he tossed the shirt to the side, "When did you get, like, buff?" she asked teasingly.

Freddie rolled his eyes and looked away sheepishly, shuffling his feet uncomfortably.

"I'm not buff," he said quietly, "I'm just growing into my height a bit. I don't want to be some skinny, tall guy. My body's just finally catching up to my growth spurt. "

"Okay…" Carly said, stretching out the last syllable and throwing a smile in his direction, "So, what you doing sitting up here in the rain?" she enquired carefully, choosing to start the conversation off innocently enough.

"Well, technically I'm not sitting _in_ the rain," Freddie joked, which caused him to receive 'the look' from Carly. He hated the way girls all had this one specific look they gave guys when they were annoyed or just not in the mood for dry humour. Freddie pretended to shudder under her gaze, which made her lose her focus and break into a smile again, shaking her head at his silly antics.

"Just thinking," Freddie said quietly, looking out at the bright lights of the city before him, and absorbing the smell of the rain. He loved living in Seattle – the almost constant rain was very enriching to the soul.

"What about?" Carly asked, sitting herself down next to Freddie and meeting his gaze curiously. She sent a small smile his way, knowing that this was the best way to get almost anything out of him. She often adopted the innocent, curious act around him when she needed something; she knew it was a terrible habit of hers, but in this case she thought it was necessary. Something was most definitely up with her two best friends and she was dying to find out what it was.

"Ah," Freddie tensed all of a sudden and the colour on his cheeks deepened in colour at his embarrassment. He couldn't tell Carly what was really on his mind, because he and Sam had sworn they'd keep it a secret, and that meant that Carly was most definitely not one to tell. She would flip out if she heard, and wouldn't give him and Sam a moment's peace about it. It would also constantly be brought up as a truce mechanism or as bait when they got into their friendship disputes, and Carly would only add to his confusion about his feelings for Sam. She would tease them about their apparent hate for each other and then they would all get sick of it and end up fighting more. Freddie could see it happening clearly in his mind, and that meant he had to come up with a tiny white lie in order to avoid her finding out. And that meant he may have to say something he didn't entirely mean.

"J-Just…" he stammered, looking for the appropriate cover-up, "Just thinking about…how much I'm gonna miss you next week when you're gone."

Even he had to admit that it was the perfect lie; it steered all suspicions of something happening between him and Sam out of the way, and flattered Carly so that she would forget about her true intentions in coming up to see him. He was a smart guy, and he suspected that Carly had maybe gathered that something was going on after Sam had joined her downstairs again. She had no doubt still been uncomfortable and Carly must have suspected that something was awry with all her explanations and excuses she must have delivered.

"Oh…" Carly said, a small blush finding its way to her cheeks at his flattery, "Thanks Freddie, but it won't be too long. I'll be back before you know it!"

Freddie smiled at her, pleased with himself for steering her away from what his true thoughts were. His moment was short lived though; Carly was a persistent girl.

"So, Sam told me you two finally made peace…" Carly stated, coming over and sitting down next to him, swinging her feet carelessly, "She seemed kind of weird though; she kept staring into space and I don't think she even heard what I was saying most of the time. Did you say or do something to upset her?"

Freddie was surprised to hear Carly's description of Sam's behavior. He had expected that she would seem awkward and uncomfortable, but for her to be lost in thought like Carly was describing was something he certainly didn't expect. He was the one lost in thought over her and their "innocent" kiss…could it be that they were thinking similar things? And neither of them wanted Carly, or the other, to know about it?

"No," he answered Carly uncertainly, "We just talked…and then she said something about having to get home and she left. It was more pleasant than our usual conversations."

He presumed that Sam had headed home since Carly was sitting there with him then, and Carly's nod afterwards confirmed his suspicion.

"Yeah, she headed downstairs to wait for her mom a few minutes ago – I think she must've been picked up by now."

Freddie nodded while Carly watched him suspiciously. She wasn't getting anything out of him just then, but she was certain something must've happened. Unless her best friend's weird mood had nothing to do with Freddie at all…but then what else could it be?

"Well," Carly said, standing up and flicking her hair over her shoulder for effect, "I think I'm going to head to bed Freddie. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Carly," Freddie said affectionately, and he sent a parting smile her way as she rounded the corner of the window and headed towards the elevator. He wasn't positioned well enough to watch her all the way to the elevator as he had done with Sam earlier, so he stood up and poked his head around the corner, only to find that Carly had already disappeared from sight; the elevator doors were an inch away from closing.

He sighed and went back to his spot on the windowsill, looking up at the sky again through the thick sheets of rain which were falling to the earth. It was then that he heard a door slam accompanied by a shout from outside the building.

"Thanks a lot you nub!" he heard, realizing that the voice sounded very familiar.

He jumped up, braving the heavy rain and running towards the edge of the small balcony, looking down towards the main doors of the building. There, seated alongside the wall right next to the main enterance, he saw someone.

Freddie's hair dropped into his face as the water drenched him from above, and he shook it out of his eyes so that he could focus more clearly on the person who was seated at the foot of the building. He was certain it was Sam, not only because he had just heard her voice, but also because of the long blonde hair which now clung wetly to her shoulders. She was soaked from the rain, and he thought he saw a shiver run through her form as a crack of thunder sounded from above. It was most definitely Sam, and before he knew it Freddie had leaped back into the building and proceeded down the stairway towards the lobby.

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_Please review! ;-)_


	4. Chapter 4: Drenched memories

_Hey everyone!!!_

_I'm back (finally). I do apologise for my absence but university and work has been really busy - my final year has seriously caught me off guard!!! I decided to try and make it up to you though by posting two chapters today!! XD Yay!_

_So, please read and enjoy and be sure to leave me a review at the end please!_

_Lotsa love_

_Nix_

_P.S - Don't forget that you can follow me on twitter! Just check my profile for the link. ;)_

**Chapter Four**

Drenched memories

The rain poured down with a vengeance as Sam tried to retreat further back into the wall, without much success. Her clothes were soaked, and even her sneakers were wet, the coldness of the water seeping through her socks and finding her toes. She hugged her knees closer to her body as another violent shiver ran through her form. She had only been sitting in the rain for a few minutes, but it was a heavy downpour that she was braving, and her stubbornness wasn't helping matters.

She could get up at any time and re-enter the building, saving herself from the rain and the illness that was sure to follow, but she forced herself to sit there in order to prove a point to herself. She wanted to prove that she didn't care that she was being stupid and that she was risking possible hypothermia by staying outside in this weather. She wanted to prove that she could take care of herself and that she didn't care what people thought of her. In truth she knew there was actually no point to what she was doing – no one who really knew and loved her could see what she was doing now, and only her mother would be able to witness it. Her mother wouldn't be proud of her for sticking it out in the rain; at first she would probably be amazed at her stupidity at doing so, and then her maternal instinct would eventually kick in and she would show concern for her health…and most probably her sanity as well.

So what was her reason for doing this crazy, idiotic act of hers? Maybe she was mentally unstable – Freddie had always suggested it to her whenever she got a little carried away in her verbal and physical abuse after all. Or maybe Freddie was the reason she was down here, shivering from head to toe and risking her health. She'd like to have thought that it was his fault she was down there, but she knew that was an accusation that he didn't entirely deserve.

She chuckled to herself as her teeth began to chatter slightly from the cold, and she hung her head into the gap between her knees, allowing the rain to trickle into her hair and down her neck, catching her lower back which was the only dry spot she had left. She blocked her ears from the thunder and the endless pounding of the rain with her knees and shut her eyes, allowing herself to think properly. She wasn't one to do much analyzing when the situation called for it; she was more of a "leap into action" kind of girl, but for some or other reason her twisted personality had decided to force her into sitting in the rain with nothing but her thoughts and her memories. She realized why she was doing this – it was as if she wanted to 'cleanse' herself from the sudden feelings that had erupted in her heart. Of course, instead of doing it mentally she jumped right into doing it in physical terms.

How could one kiss change her perception of a person so easily? It wasn't the greatest kiss in the world, but it wasn't half bad either; she had enjoyed it and she had a feeling that Freddie had liked it as well. But the fact still remained that they had only kissed each other out of some form of duty that their compromised friendship held. Sam did it as a type of reconciliation for her actions, and she was guessing Freddie had done it in order to finally escape the shadow of judgement which she had only worsened. She didn't expect that she would like it so much though, and as a result she was only complicating things.

"Freddie loves Carly…Freddie loves Carly!" she muttered to herself as she rocked backwards and forwards, trying to keep warm. She couldn't complicate the friendship that the three of them had formed now. If she admitted that she had feelings for Freddie, it would ruin everything. Freddie would reject her because he loved Carly, Carly would be furious that the two of them had kissed when she found out, and Sam would be humiliated and the friendship would never be the same again. Sam wasn't even sure whether she really had feelings for Freddie; it could all be just because of the excitement of their first kiss, but she knew herself better than anyone, and she knew that wasn't the case.

"Freddie loves Carly!" she muttered forcefully to herself once more. This was the fact that she had kept in the back of her mind for all these years, even though Carly didn't feel the same way. It was the one thought that stopped her from changing her feelings for him. It was so obvious that he loved Carly; ever since the first day they met Sam knew it, and as a result she hated him because…because she had wanted him to like her. Her head snapped up as the memory came back to her. A car passed by and she squinted her eyes to see if it was her mother, with no such luck. If only her mother could arrive now and block this memory from her mind…a memory that she had made an effort to erase from her thoughts…

_A frantic knocking was heard at the door to the Shay's apartment. Spencer was in the kitchen, a pile of textbooks stacked before him on the counter, and the thickest one of them all open before him. He had just gotten back from his third day at Law School, and already Sam could see that he was feeling the pressure. _

_She and Carly were in the living room, sprawled over the couch as an episode of Girly Cow played teasingly from the television. Even when Sam grew older she never grew tired of watching Girly Cow– it was one of her favourite shows. _

_Carly had begged Spencer to allow her over because of the reputation Sam had with her teachers and other parents; Carly's father had been politely warned by her teachers that she was "dangerous and untrustworthy", and he had taken their advice to heart. Spencer, however, saw no harm in having a "cute little blonde" over at his place (which had been his words exactly). So, Sam and Carly had taken to hanging out at her brother's house as opposed to her own, because there was usually food and a functioning television at Carly's home. _

_The knocking continued, and Sam and Carly's eyes remained glued to the screen, not taking much heed of the knocking. _

"_Um, are you going to get that kiddo?" Spencer asked his younger sister hesitantly, wrenching himself away from his reading and peeking over his pile of textbooks._

_Carly sent her brother a disgruntled look accompanied by a pout. Man, Carly could be stubborn and spoiled if she wanted to, and she just had this way of twisting Spencer around her little finger. He sighed and pushed himself up from the table, loping towards them and ruffling Carly's hair as he passed the couch. She slapped at his hands, giggling slightly, and Spencer sent an affectionate smile her way before opening up the door._

"_Ah, Freddo!" he exclaimed, and Sam peeked over the back of the couch in curiosity. Standing at the door was a small boy with dark brown hair and soft, bambi-like eyes. Sam had seen him around school a few times before, and even though she didn't know she couldn't help the small jolt of butterflies that sprang to her stomach every time she saw him. She had often tried to catch his eye in the hallways, but he avoided her in the same way most kids did at school. She was tough ad people could sense that about her…it was sometimes better to keep their distance. _

_The boy seemed cautious at first, but smiled at Spencer when he greeted him nonetheless. His eyes soon roamed about the room, searching for something, and eventually they fell on Sam's face._

_She recoiled slightly under his gaze, noticing how his expression went from one of curiosity to surprise and eventually settling on one of disapproval. He entered the room as Spencer proceeded to shut the door, and he made his way immediately towards them. Sam dropped her head, facing the television again, confused at his expression. _

"_Hi Carly!" she heard him say, and Sam looked up at him again in the hope of a friendlier reception. He had a wide smile plastered on his face as he stared expectantly at her new best friend, waiting for her to greet him in turn._

"_Hey Freddie," Carly said, glancing away from the television and smiling at him before her eyes flickered back to the screen, "Spongebob's on," she said matter-of-factly, indicating that she didn't want to be disturbed._

_Freddie glanced towards the screen himself, and then snapped his attention over to the Sam, the disapproving look back on his face._

"_Hello," she greeted the boy, trying to be friendly, but quickly getting irritated with him. This feeling increased when she noticed he was blocking the television from her view. _

"_Hi…" he answered uncertainly, still blocking her view without realizing it. Silence fell between the two of them, and a staring match soon ensued as Sam waited for him to say something and move out of her way._

_He stared back at her, and she could tell that he was tough – he was perhaps just as stubborn as she was, but the softness that lay behind his eyes indicated that she would have no trouble pushing him around if she wanted to. His bambi eyes also showed her another thing – she really liked brown eyes; especially this boy's. Soon she found herself more lost in his eyes as opposed to defensively staring him down, and she shook her head slightly in order to clear her head, allowing him to win the silent interrogation. She sighed._

"_Are you gonna sit down or not short stuff?" she teased him; "You're blocking my view!"_

_Instead of waiting for him to move she reached forward and grabbed a handful of his shirt, yanking him onto the couch between her and Carly. He made a sound of surprise before it was muffled by the pillow his face landed in. Carly finally tore her eyes away from the screen in order to stare at Sam in disbelief._

"_Sam!" Carly exclaimed, reaching over and flipping Freddie lightly onto his back, watching him get into a sitting position, "Why'd you do that all of a sudden?" _

_Sam shrugged, propping her feet up on the table in front of her._

"_He was in my way," she defended herself, "And he was staring at me. It freaked me out, so I made him stop."_

_Freddie looked at her with the same disbelieving expression that Carly now held, though Carly did seem a little more amused than he was._

"_You were staring at me too!" Freddie argued, looking over at Carly for support, "That was mean!"_

"_Ah, don't be a cry baby," Sam dismissed his argument with a wave of her hand, "Now that Girly Cowis finished Carly can finally tell me who you are and what you're doing here."_

_Carly blushed a little at her comment, but stood up and gestured for her and Freddie to do the same nonetheless._

"_Sorry," she muttered a quick apology, "Sam, meet Freddie. He also lives in the Plaza and is one of the first friends I made when I moved here."_

_She smiled at Freddie and he returned it, before glancing cautiously at Sam, as if he was scared she would hurt him again._

"_Freddie," Carly continued, when neither of them said anything, "This is Sam. I met her at school a few days ago. She's really cool, and is kind of my best friend already!"_

_Sam grinned at Carly, and she couldn't help but notice Freddie's face fall slightly at her words. The grin dropped off of her face in reaction to his expression, and she immediately felt bad for him. She didn't want to replace his place in Carly's heart, but she couldn't help it if she finally found someone she was able to connect with. She wasn't about to let Carly go, even if she had only known her for a few days. The least she could do was try and be friendly with Carly's other good friend._

_Sam was seriously considering being nice to the bambi-eyed boy before her, which she didn't think would be too difficult since she had been crushing on him for a few weeks after all. She was considering it until his downcast expression changed to one of anger, and he shot a glare her way, which Carly was unable to see. Sam caught her breath at his cold glare and her quick temper immediately took flame. This little boy was toast – there was no way someone could look at her like that and expect to get away alive. So much for trying to be friendly_

_Sam walked casually towards the kitchen as Carly and Freddie fell into an argument of some sort. Sam caught snippets of what they were whispering to each other, but she was more focused on her current state of mind than anything else._

"_Carly, I though I was your best…?"_

"_I'm a girl Freddie, I need a best friend who is a girl too…"_

"_But, that __**thing**__ isn't even a girl!"_

_That comment hurt Sam a little; all she's wanted for the last few weeks was to be noticed by Freddie, and when they finally did meet he didn't even consider her to be a girl? She kind of expected it, what with her tendency to speak before she thought everything through and her violent mannerisms, but it still hurt. This only seemed to increase her anger. _

_:Shh! She's my friend now….you're still my friend too…"_

"_But Carly!"_

Sam chuckled to herself as the rain continued to wash over her. She had forgotten how small, trivial things could lead to huge fights when you were just a kid. If Freddie hadn't been so in love with Carly then she guessed the two of them wouldn't still be friends today. Carly had really put him in his place back then when he had tried to insult her choice in friends. Although she couldn't blame him; she wouldn't want to be her own friend either! She winced as the memory came to an end – she wasn't very proud of what she'd done to Freddie that day.

_Sam reached up onto the counter where Spencer was still seated; he was doodling on the corner of the page he was supposed to be studying. She looked for one of the thickest textbooks, and grabbed one near the bottom, causing the pile of books to wobble and tip towards Spencer, making him crash to the floor with the heavy books on top of him._

_The crash made Carly and Freddie pause in the middle of their argument and look over at Spencer, wondering what was going on. Sam walked over to them casually, the large textbook in hand, and she saw Carly and Freddie's face crumple in confusion. She stood next to Carly and stared Freddie dead in the eyes before giving an evil snicker and suddenly whacking him on the side of the head with the textbook, putting her full strength behind it._

"_Sam!" Carly exclaimed again as Freddie landed onto the coffee table, his one hand held to his head in pain, "What was that for?!"_

_Sam shrugged again, "Seemed like he was bugging ya," she answered simply, dropping the textbook onto the floor and sitting down on the couch again, propping her feet up on Freddie's back._

"_That's it!" Spencer yelled from the kitchen floor, crawling out from under his textbooks, "It's just not worth it! My scribbles make more sense than this law stuff. I quit!"_

_He pulled himself up and looked questioningly at the scene before him, just as Freddie tried to escape Sam's foothold._

"_Just 'cause I __**am**__ a girl, doesn't mean I can't do this," she muttered, kicking him down again, "Don't mess with me Freddork," she warned him, nudging him with her foot as he let out a groan._

Things hadn't changed much between the two of them from that day onwards; Freddie ended up losing consciousness for a while after Sam had hit him, and Carly had spent some time lecturing her about how to treat her friends. Carly tried desperately to hold onto both of them as friends, and she succeeded very well, even though her two best friends seemed to hate each other.

Sam constantly insulted, physically abused and teased Freddie, bringing the over sensitive boy to tears on more than one occasion, but somewhere along the line he toughened up, emotionally at least, and he seemed to just start accepting the fact that he would have to put up with her if he wanted to remain near to Carly. Sam enjoyed torturing the poor soul, and soon forgot that she had actually liked him in the first place. The soft bambi-eyes that once held so much appeal for her now only reminded her of the cold glares which had become a customary action for Freddie, and it only made her want to irritate him more. The two of them never spent time together if they could help it – the only way they ever saw each other after their first meeting was at school, where Freddie ignored her most of the time and chased after Carly instead. He had learnt not to visit Carly at her apartment when Sam was around; he stayed away and Sam didn't bother to ask about him. He was a mere annoyance on the front of her and Carly's friendship, but as soon as they had started iCarly the two of them began to spend more time together…but their perceptions of each other still hadn't changed much..

And yet, despite the last eight years of a mutual friendship/enemy relationship one _little_ kiss was able to pull her back to the old memories and make her rethink her actions. Her thoughts suddenly took on a new direction; after everything she had put him through was she even worth liking Freddie? She knew the answer to it before she had even completed the thought – no, she didn't deserve him. She was lucky enough to have Carly and Freddie as her friends, there was no way she was lucky enough, or worthy enough to deserve Freddie's love and adoration. That was reserved for Carly. It would be much easier to keep things as they were…well, maybe she would let up on the Freddie abuse just a little for old times sake.

Sam heard the door to the main entrance open and shut abruptly, and she lifted her head up, but didn't bother to see who it was – it was probably a resident heading out to buy milk or something. Instead she continued to stare straight ahead of her, watching the road for any sign of her mom's car. She seemed to have forgotten about the cold while she was lost in thought, but the sudden reality of her freezing condition hit her as soon as she lifted her head and the rain hit her exposed face.

She heard someone trudging through the rain towards her, and she looked up, ready to shrug off the person who was probably going to ask her why she was sitting out in the rain. As she looked up the bright light which sat over the entrance to the building blinded her momentarily, and all she was able to make out was the silhouette of someone bringing an umbrella over her head. The relief she felt as the raindrops stopped assaulting her was indescribable, and she squinted her eyes in order to see who her temporary saviour was.

"You okay Sam?" she heard the figure say, and she caught her breath as she realized who it was.

"Freddie!?" she questioned, and she stood up abruptly, knocking her head into the umbrella that was extended over her, "What are you doing down here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Freddie argued, the boyish smile he adapted when teasing her making its way to his lips.

'I…I…um…" Sam mumbled, looking for the appropriate excuse while Freddie lifted the umbrella higher so that her head wasn't stuck within it. He held it away from himself, resulting in him getting wet instead of her, and this noble action didn't go unnoticed by Sam.

"I'm waiting for my mom," she finally answered him, deciding on the truth.

"Out here?" he questioned, looking around the area for dramatic effect, "You do know that we have a perfectly dry lobby for you to wait in? And Carly and I are also upstairs?"

He was making fun of her, and Sam's quick temper flared at his words and the mischievous grin that now spread across his features.

"Carly's gone to bed," she defended herself, "And Lewbert's more annoying than usual tonight," she continued, "And what makes you think I would ever come knocking on your door? I don't need help Benson; I'm just fine here by myself."

She left the cover of the umbrella as she spoke, and settled herself back against the wall with her arms folded, refusing to allow Freddie to help her. She turned her face away from him, looking at the street and subconsciously begging her mother to pick her up already. She couldn't stand another minute with Freddie; not because he was irritating her, even though he was, but rather because he was being charming – it made it difficult for her to escape her memories and return back to the state of hate she used to have for him. _(a/n LOL – state of hate :-D)_

Freddie sighed, bringing the umbrella back over his head as Sam stood stubbornly in the rain, refusing to look at him. He stepped forward, coming closer to her, and she shifted away without a word, sliding down the wall and sitting down again in the position he'd found her in. Instead of giving up on her stubbornness Freddie pressed forward and took a seat next to her on the cold ground, closing the umbrella and placing it next to him.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked him in surprise when she noticed that he was now sitting in the rain with her, already drenched like she was. His hair fell into his eyes and clung to his forehead, making him look different than what she was used to. He smiled up at her as he sheltered his eyes from the rain by bowing his head slightly.

"You wanna sit in the rain? That's fine with me – I'm not going to leave you to sit out here by yourself, and since you won't join me under the umbrella I decided I'd join you in the rain."

Sam gaped at him in surprise, closing her mouth again when she realized she had nothing to say and looking away. She let out a slight "humph" of disapproval, and continued to try and ignore him. Freddie didn't press on with conversation; instead the two of them sat in silence, staring out at the street and occasionally giving a shiver from the coldness of the rain. Sam had already been sitting out there for nearly ten minutes before Freddie came, so the cold was affecting her much faster now in comparison to Freddie. She shivered violently, but refused to say anything or even look at Freddie as the two of them braved the storm together.

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_LOL - Sam wasn't much different as a kid, no? And I'm glad Fredlumps has grown up a bit from the days that he let Sam just push him around. ;) Don't forget to head over to the next chapter! But first...please review!_


	5. Chapter 5: An unlikely shelter

**Chapter Five**

An unlikely shelter

"That's it," Freddie said bluntly after a few minutes of braving the rain, along with watching Sam shiver uncontrollably. He stood up and Sam looked up at him in surprise as he grabbed her hand and yanked her up with him, "We're going inside, this is madness Sam. What are you thinking sitting out here like this?"

He started pulling her towards the entrance, but she stood her ground, digging her feet into the ground and pulling back as Freddie tried to yank her forward.

"Come on Sam!" he urged, pulling at her arm, the umbrella held tightly in his other hand.

"No, I can't go inside!" she retaliated, pulling back harder, "Lewbert kicked me out! I played a prank on him and now he's really peeved and I don't have the patience to deal with him right now. Come on, please stop it Freddie, my moms going to be here soon anyway!"

Freddie stopped yanking her arm at her command, and he let go of it, his arm falling to his side in surprise.

"What prank did you pull on Lewbert?" he asked curiously, umbrella forgotten as the two of them stood facing each other in the rain. An evil grin came to Sam's face as she recounted the story of the yellow, flour-filled balloon to Freddie.

"And it's all on camera," Sam added as she laughed along with Freddie, who was supporting himself on the umbrella because he was laughing so hard, "We can use it on our next Messing with Lewbert installment."

"I was wondering why his suit was so white…you're brilliant Sam! You're slightly psychotic, but brilliant nonetheless." Freddie said, straightening up as the laughter dispersed from the two teenagers slowly, fading into an awkward silence. Sam glanced towards the road once more, noticing that there wasn't a single car in sight, and a violent shiver rocked through her form once more as the rain continued to pour down upon her and Freddie.

"Oh, come here!" she heard Freddie suddenly exclaim, and the next thing she knew she was sheltered not only from the rain, but from the cold as well. Freddie had stepped forward, opening the umbrella as he grabbed one of Sam's arms and pulled her towards him, enveloping her in a tight embrace as he brought the umbrella over their heads.

Sam's automatic instinct was to pull away, and she pushed at his chest the second she realized what he was doing and tried to back into the rain once more, but his one arm held her tightly in place.

"Do you want to freeze?" he asked her, as she tried to pull away again, "Your mom should be here soon, so just be sensible for once and stand under here with me? I promise it'll be over before you know it."

Sam stopped trying to resist his hold, and she dropped her arms, relaxing into his embrace instead and surprising herself at how quickly she surrendered. The rain thundered onto the top of the umbrella, but Freddie and Sam were both free from the raindrops as they stood tightly against each other beneath their small amount of shelter.

Sam had her head pressed against Freddie's chest; he had grown taller over the years, which had completely eradicated one of her first nicknames for him – "short-stuff". Sam felt a strong blush spring up into her cheeks, and she felt warm despite the cold weather and the wetness of her clothes. They were silent as the rain continued to fall, and Sam's thoughts began to wander again as she listened to the steady sound of Freddie's breathing and felt the slight rise and fall of his chest. He still had his one arm wrapped around her shoulders, pinning her to him and forcing her arms to her side. She unconsciously wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling herself closer, and she chanced a glance up at his face to find a small smile playing at his lips, but he continued to stare towards the street all the same. She dropped her gaze once more and closed her eyes, breathing in his scent. He smelled clean, like laundry detergent, despite his wet clothes, and she could taste his smell on her tongue, bringing memories of the kiss they shared flooding back to her.

Even though she and Freddie had always been more enemies than anything else Sam couldn't help but admit that she enjoyed his company all the same. They had passed the stage of all out hatred and had instead settled into a comfortable, teasing friendship, which was occasionally made difficult to bear because of Sam's knack of going too far in her practical jokes. At these times Sam could see the old hatred return to Freddie's eyes, and even though she acted all nonchalant about it she always felt a little bit guilty and hurt afterwards.

She'd had a strange mental block worked into her system since her childhood which made it almost impossible to remain friends with anyone for too long; she always found a way to mess up her friendships. Carly was the most understanding individual that she had ever met, and therefore she stuck out Sam's bad moods and fits of rage in order to fight for their friendship. This meant so much to Sam that she eventually lowered her defenses for her best friend, allowing a strong bond to form. But Sam had never dropped her walls for Freddie, and he had never dropped his for her either, so she felt like an eight year old around him all the time. Her temper was at a short fuse when he was around, and she never had a nice word to say to him. Despite all of this Freddie still kept coming back. She guessed it was for Carly's sake, as it had always been when they had first formed this strange triangle of friendship, but she couldn't help but feel that Freddie maybe understood her better than anyone. Maybe he understood her even better than Carly did.

"Are you alright Sam?" Freddie muttered quietly over the loud falling of the rain around them. She had been quiet for a while now with her head pressed up against his chest and her arms wound around his waist. This wasn't a behavior that Freddie had ever seen her display, not even with some of her boyfriends she'd had a school, and it seemed to be having a weird effect on him. At first he was surprised, of course, but his body melted into her hug so quickly that he didn't stay surprised for long. Instead he felt a strange feeling of security rush through his system as he stood with Sam in his arms and him in hers.

A muffled squeak escaped the lips of a girl, indicating that she was all right, but Freddie wasn't convinced. Her behavior was still a clear indication that something was different between them, and his heart soared as he realized that this was a good thing; the two of them were finally getting closer.

They remained standing there in silence as the rain continued to pound onto the top of the umbrella. Finally Sam lifted her head from Freddie's chest, blinking away the water that had fallen from her sopping fringe into her eyes. Despite the dampness of her clothes and hair she felt warm and protected still standing with Freddie's one arm locked tightly around her back.

"Are you alright Sam?" he asked once more, looking down at her as she gently began to unwind her arms from around his waist, her blissful state of mind leaving her as she began to realize what position she was in.

"I'm fine…" Sam muttered, her voice coming out in the sickly, girlish squeak that had escaped her lips earlier. She cleared her throat hastily and tried again.

"I'm…great," she said, straightening up and sliding her hands away from Freddie's back, bringing them forward to his stomach and pushing lightly at him. He reluctantly let go of her and allowed her to take a small step back from him but she still remained underneath the umbrella, "How are you?" she asked, being more considerate than usual.

Freddie's face broke into a smile and his eyes softened as he looked down at Sam and answered her whole-heartedly, "I'm great too."

"Thank you Fredderly," she said, bringing her hands up and patting them lightly at his chest, "I'm, uh, sorry for being so stubborn."

Freddie chuckled slightly as he brought his one hand up again and rested it against one of her hands at his chest.

"You know, that's two apologies in one night," he teased her, "You seem to be less hateful toward me than usual."

Sam shrugged as she unconsciously moved closer to him again, the sudden urge to tease him like she usually did pulling at her resolve.

"Seems so," she breathed in a very uncharacteristic way, "Who knows how long it'll last?"

Freddie tensed as she moved closer again, her face inclining towards him and her teasing smile drawing attention to her mouth. He gulped as he noticed the flirtatious air around them, and he brought both his hands to hers and slowly pulled them away from his chest.

"I'm hoping for the best," he replied as he smiled so that she wouldn't feel rejected when he pushed her away slightly. The umbrella was still clutched in his other hand and it formed a strange barrier between them all of a sudden. Sam blinked and seemed to come to her senses as Freddie pushed her away, and she took a step back once more, allowing the rain to splatter her momentarily before he brought the umbrella over her head again.

"Sam!" Freddie scolded her lightly for stepping into the rain again, and she smiled sheepishly at him.

"About our kiss," he suddenly said, catching Sam off guard. Freddie had the sudden urge to tell her everything – about how he truly felt about their kiss and what he wanted as a result of it. She would probably never accept it, and he was prepared to be knocked out, but his impulses were kicking in.

"Yes?" Sam answered before she could stop herself. She had felt so safe in the little bubble of warmth that Freddie had created for her that she had forgotten herself momentarily. She had never been able to flirt properly because she didn't know how to be girly enough to do it, but somehow with Freddie she was able to explore a side of her that she never knew she had.

"Thank you," Freddie interrupted her thoughts, and she looked up at him in surprise, "It was…well. I know I've already said this but it was really…"

The last bit of Freddie's sentence was drowned out by a frantic honking of a car horn from across the street, and Sam pulled herself away from him as she whipped around and looked for the source of the noise. Through the rain she saw her mother rolling down her window despite the rain in order to call out to her, still keeping her hand pressed firmly to the hooter. Sam waved over at her to show that she was on her way, and then she turned back to Freddie in expectation.

"Sorry I didn't catch that," Sam said hurriedly to him, and he shook his head at her.

"Your mom is here Sam, you better get going."

Sam looked up at him with desperation in her eyes; she had to know what he had wanted to say, but the uncomfortable gaze that he met her with sparked her annoyance once more.

"Freddie," she started, trying to stay calm, "What did you say?"

"Nothing Sam!" he retorted, and he stepped back from her, but kept the umbrella positioned over her head nonetheless. Sam looked at him, betrayed and hurt by his sudden dismissal of her, and the sound of the car horn behind her again added to her sudden anger. Instead of saying anything she gave Freddie a scathing look before turning on her heel and running off towards the car through the rain.

"Sam, wait!" Freddie called after her, but she ignored him and yanked open the door to the passenger side, getting in and shutting him out.

Freddie let the umbrella fall as he watched Sam run off towards the car, the look of hurt on her face a constant image before his eyes. He had wanted to admit to her how much he had loved their kiss…how much he would love to do it again, but in the last instant he had chickened out, and it seemed that the developments of that night had been in vain; Sam hated him once more.

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_This is a bit shorter than what I usually write, but I didn't want to drag this scene out any longer than I already did - it was sweet though!_

_Please leave me a review and look forward to the next update - it should be coming soon. ;)_

_Nix_


	6. Chapter 6: Back to normal

_Hi all! See, I told you I'd be back with an update soon! ;) _

_This Chapter is kinda shorter than what I had originally wanted, but once again I didn't want to drag ths out - we need to get to the really exciting bits sooner! LOL_

_Anyhoo, I hope you all enjoy the chapter - not sure when the next update will be since I have a serious test week coming up now, but hopefully next week I'll have Chapter Seven up. ;) _

_Please Review - I love hearing all of your feedback - it inspires me o write further and to better every chapter as I go along. ;)_

_Love IamMuchan_

**Chapter Six**

Back to normal

The next morning dawned much too early for Freddie – he had barely slept the entire night. Sam was constantly on his mind and the hurt expression she had shown him before she ran off was unable to leave his thoughts. He was convinced that things had changed between him and Sam last night, but the result of his reluctance to admitting his true feelings on their kiss was a damaging one. He had hurt Sam, and when Sam was hurt she immediately became angry and defensive; it was a miracle that she hadn't hit him, but he believed that the events of the night had affected her perception of him as well. At least, he hoped so.

Freddie was therefore surprised when he visited the Shays apartment the next morning to find that Sam was as pleasant as usual…at least as pleasant as she could be with Freddie around.

"Hey Fredward," she greeted him as he cautiously approached her. Sam was standing on the one end of the counter, a cup of pudding in her one hand and a large spoon in the other. Carly was sitting at the counter watching some of the footage sent in by the iCarly viewers.

"Hey Sam," Freddie greeted as casually as possible, "Hi Carly," he added as she paused the video and spun around in her chair to greet him.

"Good morning Freddie!" Carly greeted him cheerfully, and the automatic smile that Freddie often adopted around her sprang to his face, "You look tired," she added and the smile dropped just as quickly as it had appeared.

"Yeah," he said, "I, uh, didn't get much sleep last night…" he dropped his eyes to the pudding cup in Sam's hands in order not to look Carly in the eye. Through his thoughts last night he had developed a serious case of guilt towards his feelings for Carly. He did love her as he had for years now, and he was almost ashamed that one little kiss had thrown his affections so out of order. He cared for Sam, and last night had been special, but his feelings for Carly had been getting stronger and stronger over the years, and he wasn't about to let them go. The fact that he had forgotten about them for a night had him ridden with guilt, and even though she didn't feel the same way about him he still felt he had betrayed her somehow.

"You're having pudding for breakfast?" he questioned Sam, raising one of his eyebrows in disapproval.

"Yeah," Sam said, scooping up another spoonful and bringing it to her mouth, "So?"

Freddie wanted to be stubborn and argue with Sam about the consequences of having so much sugar in the morning – especially for her, but he decided against it in light of recent events. Carly ignored their exchange as she usually did – the two of them bickering was such a normal occurrence that it almost didn't bother her anymore.

"Is there a reason why you didn't sleep well?" Carly asked Freddie as she spun herself from side to side on the bar stool, "Were you out on the fire escape till late?" she added.

Freddie tensed at her question and out of the corner of his eye he noticed Sam do the same. Carly noticed it as well, and she narrowed her eyes slightly at the two of them. She left her seat and moved between them, disguising her true intention by tasting some of Sam's pudding.

"No, I came down soon after you went to bed," Freddie said quickly, trying to distract Cary from getting the real reasons out of him. Behind Carly's back Sam went from tense to shocked, and her eyes widened at Freddie's statement. So Carly had gone up to see Freddie after she had left; was it because she was suspicious about what they had spoken about or was it something between her and Freddie that caused her to go and see him? She was sure the surprise was evident on her face, because Freddie's eyes met hers at that moment, and his face was filled with guilt at her expression. She dropped her eyes to her pudding once more and tried to ignore him, but it seemed impossible.

"Ok, what's going on with you two?" she asked, taking a step back so that she could look at them both. She placed her hands on her hips and this reminded Freddie all too much of his mother when she was suspicious of something.

"What do you mean?" Freddie questioned, glancing at Sam again. She was being very quiet, and he wasn't the only one who noticed it.

"Well, last night you and Sam were both acting really weird, and today it doesn't seem to be much different," Carly said, eyeing both of them, "Now are you going to tell me what's happened?"

"Ah, um…" Freddie trailed off, trying to think up a suitable explanation, and struggling to do so.

"Carly, I think Frednub's just feeling a little weird about me apologizing to him," Sam piped up, sparing Freddie from his embarrassment, "Isn't that right Frednub?" she said smiling at him in her usual sarcastic manner.

"Yeah," Freddie said, smiling back at her, "I am a little weird after that."

"Aw, poor little nub," Sam said, the teasing twinkle returning to her eye.

"Ok, ok," Carly said, joining then in their affectionate smiles for one another, "But that still doesn't explain why you were so weird last night Sam."

Sam shrugged as Freddie waited for her explanation to be put on the table again, but she seemed a little lot for words at this point. It was his turn to jump in and save her.

"Sam is probably just as awkward about it as I am," Freddie said bluntly, "But she's much too stubborn to admit it."

His smile widened at this point and Sam breathed a short sigh of relief before pointing at him with a serious, fiery look in her eyes.

"Just so you know Benson, this doesn't change anything between us. Prepare yourself for the worst is yet to come."

Freddie gulped for effect, and a moment of silence overcame them before the two friends burst into laughter. Carly was looking between them in a confused manner before she sighed and laughed along with them.

"Great," she concluded, as their laughter began to fade, "So you guys are ok? Can everything go back to normal again?"

Sam and Freddie looked at each other, their eyes indicating that there was something more between them than what they had just elaborated on, and they simultaneously answered Carly as they reached a silent agreement. They would never tell Carly; she could never know of the feelings that the two of them had experienced separately that night.

"Yup…back to normal."

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"Sam, can I talk to you?" Freddie said quietly to the blonde girl who was lounging in her beanbag in the iCarly studio. Carly had left the two of them alone for a few minutes as she went downstairs to get them each a bottle of low-cal cream soda and Freddie grabbed the opportunity to talk to Sam privately.

"What is it Benson?" she said defensively, even though she knew exactly what he wanted to talk about.

"About last night," he started, "I'm sorry that I upset you. I didn't mean to…it's just-"

"You don't have to explain Freddie," Sam cut him off, standing up and heading over to the car so that she could lean against it, "It happened ok? We kissed, and I'm grateful that you were worried about me being in the rain last night and that you came to help me, but there's nothing more to it."

"Sam, I think…no, I know I hurt you last night somehow and I'm sorry."

"I told you Freddie, it's no big deal," Sam said, shrugging her shoulders, "I'm not upset or angry or anything…but if you keep bothering me like this I just might be."

"Sam," Freddie said, refusing to back down, but just then Carly re-entered the room with three soda bottles clutched to her chest.

"Seems Spencer drank all the cream soda," she said, not realizing that she was interrupting a very important discussion, "But I got us some other fizzy drinks instead."

"Thanks Carls," Sam said, snatching the drink from her friend, popping the cap and immediately taking a sip.

Freddie took his a little more courteously and stole a worried glance at Sam. She was really acting like everything was no big deal. Perhaps he was only over-reacting to this whole kissing business. They had promised that everything would go back to normal after they kissed, and so far Sam was the only one who was holding up her end of the deal.

'_Fine then,'_ Freddie thought to himself_, 'Sam obviously doesn't feel the same way about the kiss as I did. I was stupid to think that she did anyway…'_

He looked over at Carly who was tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear and taking a timid sip of her drink while she smiled at something Sam was saying. She was beautiful, and Freddie immediately felt the familiar flutter of his heart as he looked at her. He was only temporarily blinded by the exhilaration of his first kiss – he knew that he loved Carly, and the fact that he had almost considered something happening between him and Sam seemed laughable now that he thought of it.

'_Sam and I are friends_,' he finally concluded, _'We do fight all the time, but we do still care about each other. And that's it.'_

With that silent declaration Freddie moved over to the beanbag next to Carly and he plopped down, winking at Carly as she opened up her body language in order to include him in the conversation. She smiled at him and rested her hand next to his on her beanbag, showing him that she cared, but that she still thought of him as only a friend. Freddie sighed...it would change one day, he hoped.

Sam watched as Freddie sat himself down next to Carly, sending her a mischievous smile accompanied by a wink.

'_Well,_' she thought to herself as she paused in the middle of her story_, 'Nothing has changed there – Freddie still loves Carly, as always.'_

She couldn't help but feel disappointed with herself; Freddie had opened himself up to a conversation about last night, but she had shrugged him off like she usually did. She wasn't mean or abusive in any way, but she almost felt like her cold dismissal of him was worse than her usual behavior. She was building up her walls all over again; Freddie had managed to break through most of the walls around her heart last night, and there were of those that would forever remain broken. She was toughening her defenses once more however in order to save herself from the hurt she knew would come. She was already hurting – the fact that she had spent a night with very little sleep herself proved that theory – but she knew that this hurt was nothing compared to what would come if she allowed Freddie to creep even further into her heart.

She cared for the boy – there was no doubt about that, but she couldn't allow herself to feel more than sisterly affection for him. He had always loved Carly, and she wasn't going to allow him to indirectly hurt her when he would be unable to return the feelings she could develop for him. She was the one who demanded that everything go back to normal after their kiss, and although she was still fine on the outside she was completely changed on the inside. That one kiss had made her realize something. She had been running away from her true feelings for Freddie, and even though he annoyed her to no end she couldn't help but admire him and feel her heart flutter when they shared those few tender moments together.

This was the new beginning of their friendship, but the fact that she had broken her end of the bargain a sense of guilt overcame her. She would try her hardest to make everything seem normal on the outside, even though she was a changed girl on the inside, but she had to hold up Freddie's end of the bargain as well. She would never speak of their kiss - or of her feelings - to anyone. Not even Carly…and she would never admit it to herself either.

She smiled and carried on with her tale of how her second cousin had gotten arrested for appearing nude in a public place without missing a beat.

"Your family is so messed up Sam," Freddie commented afterwards while Carly nodded in approval.

"Says the guy whose mother makes him sign a contract confirming that he shampooed twice," Sam threw back at him and he reddened in colour.

"She stopped doing that!" he defended himself, "She trusts that I'm old enough to do it myself now."

"And yet you still get tick baths," Sam threw back at him again, enjoying the look of irritation and embarrassment cross his face.

"Listen Puckett!"

"What is it Mama's boy Benson?"

"Stop that!"

"The truth hurts doesn't it?"

"Stop it you two!" Carly interrupted their drabble, rising from her beanbag in irritation, "Come on, let's look through some of the new footage our viewers sent in so you two can stop looking for excuses to fight."

Seems things were back to normal between Sam and Freddie – at least on the outside.

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_Hope you enjoyed tha - I know it's disappointing, but Freddie and Sam need to not like each other in order for them to fully realize just HOW MUCH they like each other. :) _

_And this needs to happen so that it seems believable with regard to the real show. If you like reading stories that go into detail with subtle hints and thought processes of the scenes seen on the actual iCalry show then I suggest you keep on reading. ;) _

_The rest of the chapters from here on out are going to be similar to the first chapter; things that really happened in the show and my twist on them. _

_OK, thats enough from me for now. Please review!_

_IamMuchan_


	7. Chapter 7: Hidden Signs

_Hey everyone, I'm so sorry for the long delay between chapters this time - things have been so busy on my end that I'm surprised I even found dome time to write._

_Well, the next chapter or two deal with things that ACTUALLY happened on iCarly and my interpretation thereof - with a few extra scenes of course. ;) So, if you are a true Seddie warrior and you enjoy looking for all the little signs between Sam and Freddie you'll love the next two chapters. =D I'm almost done with Chapter Eight, so it shoud be up soon. :)_

_Don't forget to review, it helps me get the next chapter to you faster when I know you're anxiously awaiting it. =D _

_Love _

_IamMuchan_

**Chapter Seven**

Hidden signs

"Now the time has come for us to answer some questions," Carly said enthusiastically into the camera as Freddie zoomed in to emphasize the intimacy of the brand new segment on iCarly.

"Sent in to us at !" Sam finished for her, and Carly gestured to Freddie that he could read the first question.

"Freddie?"

It was Friday night again, and the gang was back at filming a new iCarly episode. A week had passed since Sam and Freddie had shared their first kiss, and everything seemed to be back to normal again. Freddie still irritated Sam, Sam still pulled pranks on Freddie and Carly tried her best to stop the two from killing each other. It was just as it had always been – with a new twist. Freddie seemed to be pursuing Carly even more than before, and this was clearly seen by the viewers as well as Sam and Carly when he read out the first question.

"Dear Carly, don't you think it would be awesome to be Freddie's girlfriend?" he said with a mischievous smile playing at his lips, accompanied by a suggestive eyebrow lift. Carly shook her head slightly as she realized he was only joking, but Sam surprised him by immediately firing up.

"Read the real question!" she said angrily, taking a step forward. Freddie shook his head and read the real question instead as Sam and Carly waited patiently to answer it.

Sam ground her teeth slightly as she waited for Freddie to finish reading the question. Why was he always so adamant about Carly? She didn't know why she was so angry all of a sudden, but she swallowed down the string of insults and hurtful comments she could throw at him as she remembered that she was in the middle of a show.

Freddie went on to read the real question and the out of the ordinary image of Carly and Sam with purple troll hair jumped to the screen.

"Vote for David Archuleta" Sam and Carly emphasized near the end of the show; the two of them had become a little obsessed with the new reality program "America Sings" and they felt it was necessary to urge their iCarly viewers to vote for their favourite.

"It's what all the cool kids want," Carly emphasized as she and Sam adorned their own sets of purple troll hair and closed the show off.

After the two girls closed off the show Sam excused herself and headed home as quickly as she could without being rude. She had warned her mother this time that she would be spending the night at home; she had suspected that things would still be a little awkward between her and Freddie, even though she had sworn that things would go back to normal. And she had been right – the small incident of Freddie flirting with Carly had driven Sam mad with sudden anger, and even though she had hidden it reasonably well she still had to get away.

She slammed the passenger door of her mother's car with such force that her mother actually jumped a little in her seat.

"Woah hun, what is it this time?" she asked her daughter skeptically, half dreading the answer.

"Nothing mom," Sam said, folding her arms over her chest and deliberately turning her head in the other direction and staring out of the window. She heard her mother sigh but refused to look in her direction. She felt the rattling of the car as her mom turned the key in the ignition and the car pulled away slowly.

"You know," Celeste Puckett said quietly, "You said the same thing last week Sammy…if there's something bothering you I'd like to hear about it."

Sam sighed this time, and turned to look at her mom guiltily.

"I'm sorry mom," she said sincerely, smiling a little to show that she wasn't trying to be mean, "I know that you care and that you want to help, but I'll tell you when I'm ready to. I just need to think through a few things first."

"Does it have anything to do with that boy I saw you with last week?" her mom asked curiously, and Sam tried to hide the surprise from her face, "Freddie right?"

"Mom!" Sam said, turning to the window again so that her mother wouldn't notice the reddening of her cheeks, "No, it does not! Freddie is a nub and that's all he's ever going to be!"

Sam's mother grinned in satisfaction at her daughter's reaction. She knew something was up; never before had she seen her favourite daughter willingly let someone to hold her for so long – not even with her and Melanie; especially Melanie.

"Alright Sam" she said, tracing her eyes pack to the empty road, "I'll wait until you're ready to talk about it."

"Thanks mom," Sam said quietly, her forehead pressed against the cool window.

"If I may say something though?"

"Mom!"

"Now listen here Samantha, and hear me out!"

Sam crossed her arms stubbornly and looked at her mom in annoyance.

"Just be yourself sweetie," she said simply, her eyes flickering from her face to the road in three second intervals, "No matter which way it ends up going the most important thing is that you be yourself."

Sam couldn't help but smile. This was exactly what she had wanted to hear – an answer to all of her personal questions. Should she confront Freddie and admit her true feelings concerning their first kiss, or should she leave everything the way it is and hope it all returns to normal. Well, it seems she had finally reached a conclusion after a week of pondering to herself…and from her mom nonetheless.

"We'll be back after the break," the host of America Sings said almost too cheerfully to the anxious audience on the other side, and Sam and Carly sighed in expiration as they flopped back against the couch. Freddie had excused himself to the kitchen in order to get a drink, and he smiled over at the two of them as they expressed their annoyance at the delay in announcing the winner.

He made his way back over to them, encountering Sam's legs blocking his path for a split second before she carefully lifted them away so that he could pass. Things seemed to have finally returned to normal, though he could pick up that Sam was being a lot less violent as opposed to a week ago. Although, he had asked for it by handcuffing her to Gibby; he still couldn't get the smell of dead fish out of his backpack. He found it sweet how Sam could sometimes get just as involved in the more 'girly' shows as Carly could – and how he always found himself watching it along with them.

"Hey," he said as he sat down between the two girls whose eyes seemed unable to leave the screen, reminding him of the first time he saw the two of them together, "Check out this new application on my Pear phone, it makes all the little-"

He cut his sentence short as Sam grabbed the phone from his grasp; he allowed her to do it because he thought she was showing curiosity, but instead she brought it to her mouth and smoothly slid her tongue across the screen before placing it back in his hand. His face furrowed in confusion; he knew Sam to be unpredictable in nature, but this seemed a lot weirder than what he was used to.

"Aw," he said, clarifying the situation, "She licked my phone!"

"Shh," Carly tapped his knee in agitation while stuffing another piece of popcorn into her mouth, "America Sings is coming back on!"

Annoyed at how his sudden agitation was being completely ignored Freddie tried to at least let Sam realize how annoyed he really was.

"Never lick my phone again!" he stated bluntly, but before he knew it the phone was snatched from his hand again, and this time she slowly and purposefully licked his phone once more. She placed it back in his hand and he sighed silently, hanging his head and admitting his defeat. He glanced over at Sam as the annoying host of America Sings reappeared on the screen.

"She did it again," he said more to himself than anyone else.

"Freddie, be quiet! Sam, stop licking technology!" Carly said hurriedly as she scooted forward in her seat to hear what the final result of the show would be.

Sam kept her eyes glued to the screen in order to distract herself from the eyes that she now felt trained on her. She admitted that licking his phone not once but twice was a strange act from her end, but she did it in the spur of the moment. She didn't regret it though; her old side which didn't care what anyone said and just went ahead and said and did crazy things was seeping through again, and she embraced it fully. There was no need to be awkward around Freddie anymore since he seemed to be acting like he usually did around her.

"The votes are in," the host said, "And the winner of American Sings…will be announced after the break!"

"Another commercial?" Sam said in agitation.

"And they wonder why they're losing kids to the internet!" Carly concurred, as Spencer entered the room in his search of the DVD he hadn't returned. Freddie smiled as Sam suggested that she would teach Spencer how to lie, and was quick to compliment her on her lying skills. Their conversation with Spencer was brought to a halt as the show returned to the screen once more.

"And the winner of America Sings is…" the host trailed off, building the tension and driving Sam crazy with anticipation.

"Come on David!" she shouted at the screen.

"Please be Archuleta!" Carly joined in.

"Say it…" Sam muttered threateningly, and she felt Freddie flinch slightly next to her. The voice she was using now was one that she often adopted when threatening him.

"David Archuleta!" the annoying man finally announced, and shouts of joy erupted from the two girls simultaneously.

"I can't believe it!" Carly exclaimed while jumping on the spot.

"It's unbelievable!" Sam agreed.

"That's why I said I can't believe it!" Carly teased playfully.

"Ok,ok, he won," Freddie said from between them, rising from his seat on the couch and moving to hug them in a congratulatory manner.

Freddie embraced Carly momentarily as her eyes strayed back to the television, and he broke away from her with a small smile playing on his lips as it often did after he hugged the girl he was so infatuated with. He then moved to Sam out of habit, since she was always second in line for a hug after Carly. As he turned he looked her right in the eyes, and a sudden hesitation pulled at his resolve as memories from _that_ night came flooding back to him.

Sam felt the electricity spark between the two of them once more as she saw Freddie come towards her for a hug, and the image of the night they kissed sprang to the forefront of her mind. Freddie's sudden hesitation matched hers as the two suddenly turned away from each other, Sam pursing her lips as she tried to force the memories of that night away and Freddie pulling his glance away from the blue gems he had just encountered.

Carly noticed the fact that they didn't hug each other, but she shrugged it off as she usually did. Her two best friends had a strange relationship; they seemed to hate each other from day one, but over time they appeared to reach a mutual understanding that only they knew of. Carly suspected that it had something to do with the fact that they were both her friends, and she loved them both equally. The strong friendship that the three of them shared was powerful enough to allow Sam and Freddie to overcome their hate and develop a friendship on their own. Ever since the incident from last week, however, things seemed strange between the two; Carly hoped that it would be resolved soon so that they could return to normal.

Weeks had passed since the night that she and Freddie has shared their first kiss, and Sam believed that it was safe to say that she and Freddie were back to normal. It wasn't that they had returned to normal only now – things had been fine between them for ages now, but it was only now that Sam was convinced she was over her small trial of infatuation for the boy. She had spent weeks suffering in silence; on the outside she teased and abused Freddie as much as she usually did, but on the inside she cringed every time she saw a hurt expression cross his face. She had to admit that she enjoyed torturing him at times, but it was when the emotional abuse got taken too far that she would end up feeling guilty.

It also made it easier to pick on Freddie every time he tried to "pull a move" on Carly. It irritated her beyond belief, but she hadn't reached a serious state of jealously yet since Carly still showed no interest in the poor boy. Freddie was also treating her in the same manner as usual; he teased her back when she started irritating her and ignored her snide comments majority of the time. They still got along well though, and there were a few situations that she was able to pick out where a tiny bit of affection began to seep through.

A month and a half after the night the two of them had shared on the fire escape, iCarly had a chance to meet and interview one of Sam's favourite competitors in the MMA fights, Jackson Colt. In this time she and Freddie got closer together through their love of MMA, and Sam ignored the warning bells that had gone off in her head. At this stage she was heavily convincing herself that she was not infatuated with Freddie, and she was doing this by insulting him as much as she could - hence the fact that she compared his head to a toilet in the middle of their web show. So, when the three of them got their look-alikes to fool Spencer on the night of the interview and the MMA fight Sam was caught off guard when conversing with her look-alike.

"Hey," she whispered to Sam so that the Freddiedee and Freddiedum wouldn't hear, "When did Freddie start looking so hot?"

Sam stared at her in disbelief, taking a sharp intake of breath at her remark. She breathed out again and tried to regain her composure, noticing how her clone had a small smile playing at her lips.

"Ok, this chick is nothing like me!" she half-shouted, trying to force the awkwardness of the situation onto someone else. Luckily she solved this just as they were leaving by playing an embarrassing voice clip of Freddie's that she had overheard him recording earlier.

"I love you Carly…I love you…loooooooooove," the recording played once, and then a second time, and Sam giggled at Freddie and Carly's discomfort, but she couldn't help but feel that small tug of jealously pull at her insides once more.

This was only a small instance where Sam began to realize that she was harboring some jealousy of her best friend. Carly had always been the pretty one, the smart one and the girl that all the guys fell for when they got to know her. She was sweet and girly and adorable, and yet she could be funny, sly and wacky at the same time. Sam envied her for her girly side, and this brought along a situation which had affected Freddie in a way he had least expected.

_Chapter Eight will be posted soon! So please review and tell me just ow much you want it. ;) _

_IamMuchan_


	8. Chapter 8: Jealousy

_Hey guys!_

_Fially I got to update...this weekend really struggled to finish this chapter (writers block and all) but it's finally done! Can't say when the next update is going to be, because exams have started up on my side, but lets all hope for the best. =D_

_Please comment and lemme know what you think of this one - it was really challenging for me for some or other reason because I wanted to keep Sam, Freddie and Pete as much in character as possible. _

_So, please review and enjoy!_

_Love IamMuchan_

**Chapter Eight**

Jealousy

Sam's birthday arrived about two months after the night the two of them had kissed, and Freddie was fully prepared for the release of the tyrant in Sam. Sam often tormented him even worse on her birthday because she saw it as a perfect excuse to throw around her position of power over him.

"It's my birthday," she would say after she had glued him to the stool he was sitting on, or had somehow managed to replace his normal shampoo with pink hair dye, "So no talking back Benson! Now, where's Mama's cake?"

Since they had been doing iCarly for about a year now, he and Carly had seen it as only fitting to throw Sam a huge surprise party in Carly's apartment. They seemed to catch Sam off guard when they announced her birthday live on camera, and the party ensued from there on. Sam had been lenient on Freddie the entire day – she had called him the usual foul nicknames that she reserved for him, but other than that she hadn't really pulled any pranks on him…yet.

When it came to Freddie making a speech about Sam in honor of her birthday he experienced an inner conflict. Sam was a crazy, wild girl who tormented him on a daily basis, but he still considered her a friend. The two of them were as close as he and Carly were, if not closer, but he couldn't admit it to a room full of people…he couldn't admit to Sam that he had once considered her as more than a friend for a few weeks.

Freddie had jumped back on the Carly bandwagon rather quickly again after convincing himself that he was merely imagining his feelings for Sam because of the excitement of the kiss. That was the logic behind it all, and Freddie believed firmly in it. He couldn't deny, however, that his relationship with Sam had changed that night for the better. He could admit to himself that he cared greatly for her, but that was where he drew the line – any further feelings were simply a figment of his imagination.

When he eventually made his speech he spoke about the Sam he had known before the kiss had happened; the hard-headed, stubborn girl who caused him daily damage, but at the end he allowed himself the liberty of sneaking his true feelings in before throwing the listeners from their doubts and suspicions.

"I consider you a really close friend," he said affectionately as he smiled over at Sam, and he saw a sparkle in her eye as she sent a secret smile his way, reserved only for him. She then went on to tease him once more to cover up their little hint of affection, and he carried on with his speech as planned. "So Happy Birthday you crazy psychopath!" he ended off, returning to his teasing self.

Sam seemed to take his light teasing good-heartedly, but he noticed how her face began to fall as one by one her friends recounted their memories of her violent ways. A new guy at school, Pete, seemed to put a final damper on her mood when he finished his speech. Freddie had heard through some of her exchanges with Carly that she had a little crush on Pete, and he guessed the fact that he considered her to be nothing more than a "dude" clearly hurt her.

A few days later Freddie entered the apartment without knocking as he usually did; Carly and Sam were seated at the kitchen table.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" he asked casually as he made his way around the coffee table towards them.

"Carly's teaching me how to be girlier," Sam stated while bringing a forkful of spaghetti to her mouth.

"And I'm outta here," Freddie said hurriedly, turning on his heel.

"Wait!" Carly's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"What?" he said nervously

"I want you to role play with Sam so that she can practice what to do when she likes a guy," Carly said as if it was no big deal.

Freddie glanced over her shoulder at Sam, who seemed to unconsciously purse her lips at him. Freddie was scared of getting into another romantic situation with Sam, especially because he was still trying to deal with his feelings for the girl, and his instincts kicked in. In a flash he turned and ran for the door, but Carly had anticipated this and was right behind him.

"Come on!" she urged him as he tried to get out of the door she was now blocking.

"No!" he protested desperately, noticing that Sam had now stood up and was leaning against the counter watching them in amusement. Then his eyes flickered back to Carly and his heart gave a small leap. She had that look in her eyes; the seductive look that she threw at him whenever she tried to convince him to do something. He despised that look…and yet it still made his legs weak every time he saw it.

"For me?" Carly said sweetly, batting her eyelashes a few times for emphasis, and Freddie surrendered with a slight moan.

Sam watched this with mixed feelings; her hand was holding the counter so firmly that she thought she might break through the wood in her agitation, but at the same time she was trying to think nothing of the fact that Freddie let Carly control his mentality to such a degree. She had met Pete a few weeks ago at school, at first thinking that he wasn't all that handsome and appealing, but this had been during her small Freddie-infatuation of course.

She had been so desperate to rid herself of her feelings for Freddie that she had begun to obsess over poor Pete to such a point that a new infatuation began to brew. Pete was, now that she thought of it, a blonde, attractive, rich and seemingly innocent boy…the complete opposite of Freddie. She shook this thought from her mind, however, since she didn't want to associate Pete with Fredpus in the slightest!

"Sam, I want you to pretend that Freddie is a guy you have a crush on," Carly instructed her, and she cocked her head slightly as she noticed Freddie roll his eyes in disbelief.

"One sec," she said, turning on her heel and heading for the counter behind them. Of course Freddie found the idea of her having a crush on him so absurd that he would mock it. She gritted her teeth a bit as she yanked a drawer open and extracted a brown paper bag. Freddie's apparent disbelief of her being able to possess any feelings for him just angered her more, and made it much easier for her to shove her infatuation for him aside.

"Sam!" Carly protested as Sam placed the brown paper bag over Freddie's head and took a step back. He seemed to expect something of this nature from her, so he stood still and pursed his lips slightly before the bag covered his expression.

"Well how can I pretend to like him if I'm looking at his face?" Sam protested as she received the amused yet serious glare from her best friend.

"You know I don't need this!" Freddie's muffled voice came from the paper bag.

The lecture that Sam was sure to be receiving was delayed momentarily as Spencer entered the room and captured Carly's attention. As she moved away to speak with him Freddie took a step towards Sam, lifting the paper bag slightly so that she could see his face.

"What's the big deal?" he questioned her, and she shrugged her shoulders at his remark.

"What do you mean?" she said half-innocently, leaning against the counter and kicking her feet out nonchalantly.

"All Carly's doing is trying to help you," he said and Sam felt her body tense slightly as he stood up for her, "You don't need to make things so difficult."

Sam crossed her arms defensively and retaliated: "Well, if you're all I'm going to have to practice on then there's no hope for me – you'd be better at giving me girly advice than pretending to be a guy I like."

This seemed to irritate Freddie. His eyes narrowed slightly as he lowered his voice threateningly.

"That's enough Sam," he muttered, "I'm not girly, or gay or _anything_ like that! Look at my face and tell me that I'm not!"

"Oh, do I have to?" Sam said in mock disgust, "Your face makes me want to puke a little bit."

This really got to Freddie, and this was made apparent when he stepped even closer to her and hissed at her in a very uncharacteristic way.

"You didn't seem to mind my face when you were kissing me!" he threw at her, and she froze for a split second before retaliating. She grabbed the brown paper bag and forced it down again before pushing Freddie down and grabbing him by the leg.

"We swore we wouldn't speak of it!" she said, "Mention it again and you'll be sorry!"

"Sam, let go of my leg!" Freddie begged her, but she only strengthened her hold on him. She planned on dragging him towards the sink and drenching him in water for good measure, but he put up a good fight. He clawed at the ground and kicked out at her as she tried to get a decent hold on his foot.

"No Sam, no, stop it!" he shouted, grabbing Carly and Spencer's attention at last. It took Carly almost half an hour to convince Sam to leave Freddie alone, and he rushed out of the door, paper bag forgotten on the floor, before she changed her mind.

Freddie had spent the night taking his anger out on one of his computer games; Sam had really gotten to him earlier and he didn't understand why. She often bad mouthed him whenever she got the chance, and he had grown used to it, but whenever she insulted his manliness he would crack. It wasn't the best ego booster when the only girl you had kissed told you that your face induced a feeling of nausea.

The next day Freddie stayed clear of Sam and Carly for the most part; there was no way he could face Sam after what had happened the day before. He had brought up that night, and the rage which had immediately sprung to Sam's eyes had caught him off guard. It was obvious from her reaction that she wanted to forget that night as quickly as possible, and this hurt Freddie. He supposed it was silly of him though; he too was trying to force the feelings of that night away, so he couldn't blame Sam for wanting to forget it. The difference was that he and Sam were trying to forget that night for different reasons. At least, that was what he thought.

He was convinced that the feelings he felt that night had been pushed aside, but he began to doubt himself once more when he arrived at school that Thursday. He had avoided Sam the entire week, but he had finally decided to approach her locker and talk to her again since they would be doing the show the next night. As Freddie neared Sam's locker though he noticed Carly taking to someone other than Sam; this girl had long, straight, blonde hair and was dressed head to toe in pink. She had a short skirt on and was carrying a book to her chest, and Freddie's eyes roamed over her from bottom to top, until he realized that this girl was actually Sam.

He stopped in his tracks just behind Carly, stunned at what he was seeing, as Sam shifted her gaze from Carly's face to his. He caught his breath at her eyes which had been lightly accented with mascara and eye shadow, bringing out their colour, and he felt something pull at his chest. This feeling didn't last long though as Sam's smile fell at the sight of him, and she wrinkled her nose ever so slightly.

"Ugh, looks like Fredweeb finally made an appearance," she said in a disgusted tone as Carly turned around to greet him.

"Hey Freddie," she said, throwing him a smile, and he felt comforted by her friendliness, "Where have you been all week?"

"Ah, you know, busy…" he trailed off while shrugging his shoulders.

"Ok," Carly accepted his feeble excuse, "Well, you've missed out on a lot!" she said excitedly as she turned to face her friend again, "So you were telling me about moving the date Sam?"

"Yeah," Sam said, a smile springing to her face again, "Well, since we do iCarly on Friday nights I asked Pete if he wouldn't mind doing something tonight instead and he said it was cool, so we're heading out tonight!"

"Great!" Carly half shouted, and the two of them gave a little jump that Freddie noticed most girls did when excited, "We have to get you an outfit!"

"Na, I'm cool with this," Sam gestured to her outfit and Freddie chuckled to himself. Even though Carly had somehow managed to make Sam a little girlier she still maintained her tomboy attitude.

"And I haven't told you!" Sam exclaimed all of a sudden. Freddie leaned against the wall and watched her as he sensed a long story coming on.

"Last night Pete took me for a walk in the park, and it was so romantic," Sam started and Freddie felt the sudden pull at his chest again as she mentioned her date with Pete, "And we saw this really big hornet's nest, and I didn't throw a rock at it or anything…"

"Impressive…" Freddie said, amazed at the change Sam had made for her new love interest. Normally Sam refused to change herself for anyone; the fact that she was undergoing such a drastic change must mean that this Pete guy had really snagged her heart. He felt the pull in his chest a third time as his eyes roamed over Sam from top to bottom, admiring how the clothes she was wearing brought out features he had never noticed before. He was so busy admiring her that he barely noticed Carly speaking.

Later that night he planned to meet Carly and Sam at the Groovy Smoothie before Sam's date; why he had agreed to it he had no idea. It was clearly torture for him to even imagine Sam with Pete, so he didn't understand why he was forcing himself to see her with him. Perhaps he just wanted to make sure she was really happy…that she wasn't changing herself for nothing. He didn't mind the new Sam, but he had to admit that he liked her tomboyish side as well, and he didn't want her to lose that part of herself.

It seemed he didn't have to worry about her losing that part of her after he had forced himself to meet up with her and Carly at the Groovy Smoothie. The senior bully who had been tormenting the school for the past few days had finally crossed the line when she hurt Carly by pushing her to the floor, and that was enough reason for Sam to break away from her new girly image.

"Sam, rip her head off!" Carly urged her friend on, as if she needed any encouragement, and the fight ensued. Freddie found himself cheering her on as she pinned the girl to the floor and gained back the respect and fear of her schoolmates. When she rushed over to them for a congratulatory hug Freddie couldn't help but put his arms around both Carly and Sam, his happiness at Sam's return clear on his face. His happiness faltered slightly however as he saw Pete enter behind them.

Sam felt Freddie and Carly's arms loosen around her suddenly and she stepped back, the triumphant grin still plastered on her face. The worried expression on Carly's face and the faltering smile on Freddie's caused her to turn around in dread. Standing at the door - clearly having entered not long ago - stood Pete. The feeling of dread increased at the sight of him, and the grin fell from her face. She took a deep breath, and with a small push from Carly she approached him shyly.

"Hey…"

Hi…"

"Did you, uh, see what just…?" she started, feeling too embarrassed to finish the sentence. Luckily Pete seemed to understand.

"Yeah…" he replied simply, and Sam winced.

"Oh…" she replied. All that work that she and Carly had put in to get Pete to like her had gone to a waste because of one bully that Sam had to put in her place. Who was she kidding? She could never be as girly as Carly, and no guy would ever want her…she glanced behind her to her two friends, her eyes falling on Freddie for a second. The one guy she knew actually liked her for who she was and took the good with the bad wasn't interested in anymore than friendship. All of a sudden she felt like crying, but she shoved the feeling aside and turned to face Pete once more.

"You were like…" he started, and she took a deep breath, preparing herself for his disappointment, "Awesome!" he finished off, and she spluttered in surprise.

"S-seriously?" she asked.

"Yeah!" he urged her again, and Sam laughed with relief.

"But, I thought you asked me out because I was all…" she started in confusion, and he stopped her midway.

"Dude, I don't want to date some daffodil," he said, allowing her to think back on her comment earlier that week about feeling like a daffodil. She was happy beyond belief as Pete confirmed that he loved both sides of her and that she was the girl for him.

"Well, I'm your girl!" she said in disbelief as the grin returned to her face and he matched her smile, "One sec…" she stopped Pete as she saw he was about to say something.

She turned around and skipped over to her two friends, who had obviously heard everything. She pumped her fists out towards them, and they both bumped her fists in celebration. Carly was grinning from ear to ear, along with Freddie, but he noticed that his grin didn't entirely reach his eyes. Wasn't he happy for her? Did he really hate her so much that he couldn't even be happy for her?

As she thought this she felt the remains of a French fry in her bosom; she reached down her blouse and took it out, taking a bite of it.

"It's actually a pretty good place to keep French fries…" she remarked, before turning around and allowing Pete to let her head out through the door first.

"Pete," Sam said uncertainly as she saw him leaning in closer, the obvious signs of a kiss grabbing her attention.

"Yeah?" he said, leaning back a little at her interruption.

The two of them were standing at the railing of his uncle's boat, watching the water as it lapped almost silently against the polished wood. The night had been heavenly; they had eaten supper in the small dining room onboard, with the family waiter serving them and providing them with whatever they wanted. Sam had thirds of everything, and was stuffed by the time dessert came along, but there was no way she was going to say no to the chocolate pudding they served afterwards.

Pete was the perfect gentleman to her the entire night, and he encouraged her to retell the story of how she had put the school bully in her place. Sam was happy with him, but she constantly had the feeling in the back of her mind that she couldn't be herself entirely with him. She was the type who showed her affection physically – arm punches, hugs, and the occasional wrestling match were her form of love…and that was why Freddie was constantly at the end of her violent ways. She would never e violent with Carly of course, but even she received the occasional friendly punch.

At that moment she was longing to wrestle Pete, or play a game involving punching or _anything_ that didn't involve dignified conversation and upstanding manners which she had been displaying all night. The other problem was that she didn't even have it in her to touch Pete…he was a great, attractive guy, but somehow she feared that she would break him if she tried something. And even though she really liked Pete, the little voice that she almost never listened to was telling her that this wasn't right.

"What is it Sam?" Pete said, as Sam snapped out of her thoughts.

"Oh, um, sorry…" Sam said, a blush jumping to her cheeks, "It's just…I don't know about this Pete."

"What do you mean?"

"Pete I…you're a really great guy and I really do like you, but I feel like something isn't right. I mean, I've changed myself for you, and I don't want to do it anymore."

"Sam," Pete said affectionately, placing his hand on her cheek and causing goose bumps to rise on her neck, "I've already told you – I like you just how you are. Like I said: I like a girl who can kiss good and break a bone!"

With that said he leaned in and placed his lips against hers ever so lightly. Sam's eyes dropped closed as he deepened the kiss and pulled her closer. Sam allowed him to pull her closer, noticing how he seemed to know exactly what he was doing; this kiss wasn't as awkward as the one with Freddie a few weeks ago. As soon as the image of her kiss with Freddie jumped to mind Sam's eyes sprang open, and she pushed away from Pete, breaking the kiss just as he was about to deepen it even further.

Pete let go of her in surprise as she turned her face away from him, her hand jumping the her mouth as she realized something. Her infatuation for Freddie hadn't died after all – she had desperately tried to love Pete in order to forget about her feelings for Freddie, but it had backfired. Instead, she now knew that there was no way she could escape her feelings for the boy…even if he didn't feel the same way.

"I-I'm sorry Pete…" Sam apologized to him as she turned to look at him once more, his face filled with disappointment. Sam dropped her hand from her mouth and placed it on the railings as an awkward silence fell between them.

"Pete…" Sam broke the silence, trying to get him to say something. When he didn't respond she took a deep breath and continued, "Listen Pete, this isn't me. I know you say both sides of who I am, but who I am with you right now isn't even a little of how I really am. Can I ask you something?"

He nodded, and she took another deep breath before speaking again.

"At my birthday party last week…before I'd changed, did you like me the way you say you do now?"

Pete hesitated before answering, then silently shook his head.

"See?" Sam said, "You only started liking me after I'd changed…if I went back to who I really was tomorrow you wouldn't even notice me. I'd just be the 'dude' you'd call for backup in a fight again. And I'm tired of pretending."

Pete smiled as she finished speaking, and he moved towards her again, placing his hand over hers on the railing.

"I understand," he said, and Sam smiled up at him, "It was great while it lasted though. Can I ask you something now? Just don't get angry, ok?"

Sam nodded as Pete's smile widened. "Is there someone else you like?"

She froze as she felt her cheeks redden and she pulled her hand out from under Pete's and took a step back.

"What? N-no!" she denied him, but Pete's smile remained in place.

"Well, whoever he is," he said, and he held his hand up as he saw Sam wanting to interrupt, "He's a lucky guy. You're a great girl Sam, don't forget it."

Sam opened her mouth in protest, but thought better of it and settled for a thank you instead.

"Thanks Pete…" she said whole heartedly, "Thank you…"

_Well, I hope you enjoyed it! Now PLEASE leave me a review! It inspires me to keep writing ;) Mwaz!_


	9. Chapter 9: Confusion

_Hey everybody!_

_Wow, it has been AGES since I last updated, but finally here comes a new chapter! This one is seriously long in order to make up for my absence, and my absence is also a result of the seriously long chapter. ^.^ See, I lost a lot of my iCarly episodes and had to re-download them in order to get the quotes from the episodes EXACTLY right! I hate misquoting episodes, and I had to wait to get the epeisodes before I could finish off this chapter. ;)_

_Anyhoo, it's here now and another one is on it's way real soon! I'm just fine tuning it and then it should be up. ;) Please remeber to follow me on Twitter (Nix_Heyns) as well as to subscribe to my channel on YouTube (IamMuchan7)! Both links can be found in my profile. _

_Also: Coming soon on my YouTube channel will be a trailer for this fanfic - watch it if you wanna find out whether Sam or Freddie confess their feelings later on in the story. ;) Well, that's it from me so enjoy the chapter and remember to review! I love reading your reviews and they really inspire me to update sooner. ;) _

_Here's the YouTube vid! www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=K7NvQjYZIgs _

_Love IamMu-chan!_

**Chapter Nine**

Confusion

"Have I ever come to you for help? For anything?" Sam said desperately as she watched Freddie purse his lips in thought. It was obvious that he wasn't going to believe her. Why would he?

The last week had been absolute torture for Sam; she was risking losing her best friend to the evil clutches of a girl called Missy, and no matter how much she tried to convince her friends that Missy was out to get her they just wouldn't believe her. Sam's confidence had hit an all time low – not even her best friends could trust her to tell them the truth, and it was hurting her. Carly's rejection had hurt her enough, and now Freddie's refusal to believe her and help her was tearing her apart.

She had broken up with Pete months ago because of the boy in front of her, and she had secretly hoped that she would be able to gain his trust and grow closer to him again, but at that moment she realized that nothing had changed. He still believed her to be out to get him; that she was nothing more than jealous and was only making up the fact that Missy was evil in order to get attention. She felt wetness behind her eyes as she realized that he would probably never believe her. She had reached an unbreakable force in their friendship that she was unable to get through in order to get close to Freddie.

With that realization in mind, accompanied by the uncertain look on Freddie's face, she turned on her heel and disappeared around the corner. She rushed down the stairs and out the building as quickly as she could, sprinting across the street and only stopping to catch her breath at the bus stop three blocks away. She seemed to have sprinted the threatening tears away, and she sunk down on the bench, her head in her hands. For one of the first times in her life Sam Puckett admitted defeat.

Freddie sat in front of the door to his apartment, his arms resting on his knees as his mind raced. What Sam had said was true; she had never asked him for help with something like this before – she was much too stubborn to admit that she had ever needed help. If she was simply looking for attention – if she was only jealous – she would have jumped Missy at any given moment in order to express her feelings. The fact that she hadn't done something like that yet proved that she was taking Carly's feelings into consideration.

He knew that Carly didn't believe Missy was trying to get between her and Sam, but maybe her disbelief was the reason Sam was seeking his help in the first place. She couldn't hurt Missy because it would hurt Carly – and she wasn't going to risk pushing her friend even further away from her.

"I'm such an idiot…" Freddie muttered to himself as he began to put the facts into a logical order. Sam needed some support right now, and all he could do was break her down even further. He rested his head on his arms as he began to find a solution to this problem. It was obvious to him now that Sam really needed him; he hadn't noticed it before because he was so convinced that Carly was right, and he felt foolish for even thinking it. Even though Sam lied on a regular basis he should've known that she would never lie about something so serious. As he sat there his cellphone vibrated in his pocket, and he stood up quickly in order to answer it. He didn't recognize the number, but he answered it hastily nonetheless.

"Sam?" he said as soon as the phone was pressed to his ear. Maybe she was calling him from a payphone or something – maybe it was an emergency.

"No Benson, this is Mr. Howard speaking," the gruff voice of his teacher travelled back to him, and Freddie held the phone away from his ear in disgust.

"Oh, sorry sir," he replied, his heart falling a little at the fact that Sam wasn't on the other end of the line, "Um…how can I help you?"

"I'm calling to congratulate you Benson," he said in a disapproving tone.

"Congratulate me?" Freddie repeated, not catching on and starting to fear for the worst. Had Sam somehow gotten him in trouble with their teacher as an act of revenge?

"Yes," Mr. Howard said, his tone now turning to one of annoyance, "You have won the boat cruise that the school was offering earlier this week. Congratulations, woop-di-doo, come and collect your ticket tomorrow morning at my office…"

Freddie could tell that Mr. Howard was about to hang up, but a sudden idea caused him to shout out in order to keep him on the phone.

"Mr. Howard, wait!" he shouted, "I need to ask a favor…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sam entered the school building the next morning with her chin held high. Despite the fact that her two best friends believed she was a liar, and despite the fact that her actions today would risk losing them both she was determined to go through with her plan. It was a simple plan at that: Destroy Missy. That was it. Perhaps it wasn't the best thought out plan, but Sam had to do something about the witch that was stealing her friends from her, and the only way she knew how would be to kill her…or at least cause the inability to move…or speak…or both. She smiled as she neared her locker, these thoughts racing through her mind, and the thoughts became more and more violent when she saw Missy standing at Carly's locker as usual.

"Hello Missy," Sam said, venom dripping from her sickly sweet tone. Missy turned around, frowning at first, but a wide smile soon found its way across her face.

"Hello Sam," she matched her tone, and her plastered on smile widened as Sam eyed her threateningly, "Long time no see."

"Yeah, whatever," Sam answered, her tone returning to normal as she stared Missy down, "I've had enough of your "Carly was my friend first" talk, and it's time I put you in your place."

"Oh please," Missy said, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms, giving Sam a look that made her want to rip her hair out, "Carly is half mine already, and Freddie isn't far behind her."

"Why do you care about Freddie?" Sam said, Missy's sudden mention of him catching her by surprise.

"As long as I have both of them believing that you're just jealous of me, the sooner they'll realize that I'm a much better friend than you. Carly's difficult to convince, but she's getting there. You've only made it easy when it comes to Freddie though – he already hates you after all."

"Freddie doesn't hate me," Sam half shouted. Her temper had risen throughout Missy's speech, and the declaration of Freddie's hate for her seemed to be the last straw. She readied herself to spring as Missy opened her mouth to retaliate, but just then Freddie rounded the corner.

Sam bit on her tongue in order to hold back what she wanted to say to Missy about her and Freddie's relationship. Freddie's eyes immediately fell onto Sam, his face showing clear concern for the anger he saw in her eyes. They hadn't spoken again after what had happened last night, and Sam had no desire to either. Without a word she turned on her heel and stalked off in the direction of her first class, leaving Freddie and Missy staring after her. Missy held a triumphant smile in place, while Freddie followed her with his eyes, worry clear in his features.

Lunch time arrived. Sam was already at her locker, packing the books from her morning classes into her locker hurriedly. She had to get to the cafeteria quick – they were serving fishsticks for lunch and she had to have them. Missy approached her locker just as Sam was imagining sinking her teeth into a delicious fishstick, and her appetite seemed to disappear at the sight of her.

"What's up?" Missy asked mockingly

"Oh, you know," Sam said, tossing the last of her books into her locker and slamming the door, "Just putting stuff in my locker…talking to some grungy mutt."

"Oh get over it Sam!" Missy replied, hardly taking offence.

"Hey!" the two girls heard behind them, "Hey you!"

Missy turned around to see Mr. Howard coming towards them, "Are you Missy Robinson?" he asked her.

"Yeah, why?" she replied.

Mr. Howard sighed as he pulled a sheet of paper form the envelope he was holding, and with an unenthusiastic tone he began to read it out loud.

"Ahoy," he started monotonously, "The School at Sea program congratulates you on being the lucky winner of a fantastic ocean voyage. Starting this Saturday you will spend the next 6 months travelling the world by sea…"

Sam listened to Mr. Howard's speech, hardly believing her luck. Missy was leaving? Yes!

"Oh my God, I won the School at Sea thing?" Missy said excitedly as Sam snorted slightly behind her. Hadn't Mr. Howard just told her that?

"Yes, I just told you that!" Mr. Howard voiced Sam's thoughts, shoving the envelope into Missy's hands.

Missy's attention was quickly diverted from Sam to the envelope as she smiled and giggled with happiness.

"So, you're just leaving?" Sam asked her, feeling rather happy herself, "I thought you were all psyched about being Carly's new best friend?"

"Not as psyched as I am to go on a six month cruise! How lucky am I?" Missy threw back at Sam.

"Yeah, I guess some times good things do happen to hideous people," Sam retaliated, trying to push Missy over the edge.

"Aw, don't be sad Sam," Missy started as Carly appeared around the corner, "Now you can be Carly's best friend because I don't have to get rid of you anymore."

"What?" Carly exclaimed with a look of shock plastered on her face. Missy turned around in surprise.

"Oh! Carly…" Missy started, but Carly cut her off.

"Oops!" Sam added from the sidelines, enjoying the moment that was playing out in front of her.

"You were trying to get rid of Sam!" Carly pointed out as Missy tried to cover up her mistake with her winning of the School at Sea trip.

Missy seemed taken aback by Carly's shocked expression and she looked between her and Sam as if she was contemplating running for it.

"Well…" she started, shrugging her shoulders, "We were best friends first and you can't have two best friends!"

"Ok, you're a…" she paused, looking for the right word.

"Whackjob," Sam offered from the side.

"Whackjob!" Carly finished, "And I don't have two best friends," she continued, making her way over to Sam, "I just have one. One awesome, cool, meat-loving best friend!"

Sam couldn't hold her smile back as she saw the disappointment on Missy's face.

"Mamma does love the meat," she agreed as Missy's eyes turned to slits.

"Whatever, you two enjoy each other. I'm going on a cruise!"

With that she ran from the school hall, skipping in excitement and tactfully avoiding the beating Sam was saving for her. Sam and Carly made up as soon as she was gone, and Sam's content increased when she admitted that she'd stolen Missy's cellphone after she'd wrecked hers.

"Hey girls," Freddie entered the Biology class after lunch, greeting his two best friends.

"Ugh," Sam muttered in disgust, and then raised her voice slightly, "Way to ruin a good day Benson."

Freddie narrowed his eyes at her disapproving tone. "Charming as ever Puckett."

"Whatever," Sam said, turning in her seat and facing the front of the class, her heart falling from the sudden happiness that had engulfed her from Missy's departure.

"I saw Missy before lunch," Freddie said, "She seemed really happy. Did something happen?"

Sam turned around quickly, planning to guilt Freddie into admitting that he was wrong – that he had taken Missy's side over hers and he would never forget it. As soon as her eyes met his though, the words seemed to fail at her lips. He was looking straight at her with a look so intense that she was forced to catch her breath.

"_He knows,"_ was all that she could think to herself as his eyes held hers, _"He believed me all along. He already knows what's happened to Missy."_

"Missy won that cruise that you signed up for Freddie," Carly said, causing him to break eye contact with Sam and look at her instead.

"Really?" Freddie said, not sounding surprised at all. Carly must've mistaken it for disappointment, but Sam wasn't fooled. Freddie already knew this. What hand did he have to play in Missy's sudden departure from their lives?

"I'm sorry you didn't win Freddie," Carly said, laying her hand on his shoulder, "I know how badly you wanted it. I didn't even know that Missy signed up for it."

"It's ok," Freddie said, shrugging his shoulders, "I'd much rather stay with you guys. I'd miss you too much anyway."

"Aw!" Carly exclaimed, giving him a quick hug in gratitude. Sam saw Freddie's eyes stray towards her as he hugged Carly to him, and she narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"I'd miss you too Freddie," Carly continued as she broke away from him, "And I know Sam would too. Right Sam?"

Sam crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing Freddie suspiciously.

"I guess," she muttered, causing her friends to smile at her. She knew they accepted her small attempt at affection as a suitable response, but neither of them knew what was suddenly racing through her mind.

Their Biology teacher walked in, cutting their conversation short, but Sam remained suspicious of Freddie's behavior nonetheless.

XXXXXXXX

"Hey, you said you wanted help with that one Geography question?" Freddie asked Carly the next morning, and she nodded.

Freddie moved over to the bench around the corner, Geography being the last thing on his mind, but he needed a distraction from the memory of Sam's suspicious looks. He knew she suspected that something was up, but it was his intention to never let her find out. If she knew he was giving up cruises for her he would never hear the end of it. She would probably be really offended, and she would tease him about it until the day he died.

"Ok Benson, you are too nice!" he heard someone say, and as he looked up he saw Wendy standing there with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"Huh?" he said, confused at first.

"Why, what he do?" Carly asked.

"You know that School at Sea contest last week?"

"Uh, Wendy!" Freddie tried to stop her, jumping up from his seat.

"Yeah, what about it?" Carly asked.

"Uh, bye Wendy!" Freddie tried to get rid of her, but she was adamant about telling Carly what he did.

"Freddie won it," she said, and he cringed at what was about to come.

"No, no I didn't!" he tried to lie.

"Yes you did," she insisted.

"No," Carly corrected her, "Missy Robinson won it."

"No, Freddie won it and then he told Principal Franklin he wanted to give it to Missy." Wendy corrected them both, and Freddie felt the urge to kick her. That urge increased when she leant over and pinched his cheek like he was a five year old.

Carly turned to look at him in shock and disbelief. She had finally put two and two together and now Freddie had to explain himself.

"You gave up that cool trip just to get rid of Missy?" she asked, and Freddie gulped as he searched for a reasonable excuse.

"I-I was protecting iCarly," he choked out, and she shook her head, a smile forming on her lips.

"No…you care about Sam!"

Freddie gulped again, silently agreeing with what she said. Yes, he did care about Sam, but he wasn't about to admit it out loud in so many words. He knew that from now on Carly would become suspicious if he carried on doing nice things for Sam, so he had to be careful with what he said and did from now on.

"Well, she was really upset…" he mumbled, and her smile grew wider.

"And you said Sam wasn't your friend," she said teasingly, poking at him as he pushed her hands away playfully.

"Yeah, whatever," he tried to brush it off, but she kept poking at him until he forcefully told her to stop.

"_Stop rubbing it in will you!"_ he wanted to shout, but he decided on silence instead.

"_Freddie did something to get rid of Missy…"_ Sam thought to herself as she sat at her desk a few classrooms away, engraving her name into the wood, _"I don't know what he did, but I know he helped me…" _

She smiled at this thought, grateful for his help. Whatever it was he did, she would repay him by not badgering him about it. If he wanted to keep it a secret then it was fine with her…after all, she already knew that he cared about her.

Sam's smile turned into a grin as she carved a small heart next to her name, her own heart swelling with the realization that maybe Freddie didn't hate her as much as she thought he did.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Twins…

"_It's not possible."_

Twins?

"_She's messing with me!"_

Twins!

"_Why would she do this?"_

Freddie's mind raced as he sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the two sweaters that were hanging from the handles of his closet. He had never been this confused in his life; this whole "Melanie" scam of Sam's was really starting to get to him. He couldn't place this sudden strange behavior; he knew that he was seen as gullible, and he was trying his best to appear not to be, but this time he didn't know whether Sam was messing with him or telling the truth.

After what had happened with Missy a few weeks ago Freddie had started taking Sam's accusations and observations a little more seriously. He had been trying to see her side of the story and figure out the truth behind what she said…until last week. Sam had sent him an e-mail stating that it was "clown" day at school, and he had been the only one to arrive fully dressed as one. She and Carly had even made fun of his gullible tendencies on iCarly, and now he was trying desperately to prove that he was not as gullible as he appeared.

Secretly Freddie knew that he was actually very gullible; he would never forget when Sam had texted him from Carly's phone a year or so ago, saying "I love you!" Once he had stormed into Carly's apartment with hope in his heart he realized that Sam had merely done it to get him there fast. Thinking back on this after everything that had happened between him and Sam recently made Freddie blush with embarrassment. He still loved Carly, but his crazy infatuation for her when he was younger gave Freddie an uncomfortable feeling at the bottom of his stomach.

He sighed and forced himself off his bed and away from the confusing thoughts, grabbing the two sweaters and heading to Carly's apartment to hear her opinion. He wanted to wear something that Sam would hate in order to get a reaction out of her, but secretly he wanted to look good for her at the same time. He had asked "Melanie" out on a date yesterday, to which she had agreed, and at first he was impressed with himself for getting her to go out with him. Then he realized that he actually had a date with Sam Puckett, not this "Melanie" that she was pretending to be, and the thought made him choke in shock.

"Hey Carly," he said hurriedly, as he let himself in without knocking. He wondered whether he would ever walk in at an awkward time in Carly's apartment, but he banished the thought as he realized that Carly's place was more home to him than his own.

"Which sweater do you think I should wear tonight?" he asked, and then on second thought he rephrased the question, "Which sweater do you think Sam would hate more on our date tonight?"

"That one," Carly said, pointing to the blue striped one in his right hand, "Sam hates stripes."

Freddie's sudden relief at finally having chosen a shirt fell at Carly's comment. Sam hated stripes? He dropped his eyes down to the striped shirt he had pulled on hastily that morning, realizing that he mostly wore striped shirts. And only now he found out that Sam hated them? Did she hate them in general, or just because he wore them?

"Great, thanks," he said to Carly, who had turned her attention back to the little boy, Chuck, who she was tutoring. He put on a huge enthusiastic smile, despite his internal debate, and turned for the door.

"Freddie," Carly stopped him, "You're going out with Melanie, not Sam!"

His reply was interrupted as Chuck flirted with Carly in a way only cute, well-behaved boys could get away with.

"Aww…" Carly responded, and Freddie held back a snort.

"Don't bother kid," he said to Chuck as he opened the door to let himself out, "I've been barking up that tree for years!"

He let himself out hurriedly, anxious to get ready for his date and to get away from Carly's attempts at convincing him that there really was a Melanie. He wasn't in the mood to bicker with Carly; he knew she was in on Sam's prank, and it irritated him. He directed that anger and irritation entirely on Sam however; he could never stay mad at Carly for long.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So," Freddie said as he leant back a bit and took in "Melanie's" appearance, "You look pretty hot tonight."

His plan was simple; he would push Sam over the edge until she cracked. She would break character and probably hit him as hard as she could, but it was worth it in order for him to make her admit that he was not gullible.

"Thanks," she responded, placing her purse on the table in front of them, "I like your shirt."

"No you don't, Carly said you hated stripes!" he protested, trying to further catch her off guard.

"Sam hates stripes," she said patiently. Melanie really did like Freddie – she thought he was really sweet from the stories she'd heard about him from Carly, and he wasn't bad-looking either. She was starting to get a little annoyed though; he seemed so convinced that her sister was trying to trick him that she almost felt offended, but instead it just made her realize how badly her sister treated him.

"You are Sam! Why don't you just admit it so we can go home?" he said in frustration, shoving her slightly, but hurting her a little nonetheless. She could see that he was just as frustrated as she was, so she remained patient with him.

"I would," she started, rubbing at her arm, "Ow...but I'm really not Sam!"

He rolled his eyes at Sam pretending that the light shove had actually hurt her, when an idea occurred to him. Sam normally hated it when he touched her in any way, and he smiled slyly at his idea.

"If you're not Sam," he started, shifting closer to her and measuring her reaction, "I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I held your hand?"

Melanie smiled as she felt her cheeks redden at his touch. He slipped her hand into his ever so softly, and his hand was warm and protective around hers. "No." she answered, plucking up some courage, "I think you're cute."

"How can you say that without vomiting?" Freddie said in disbelief, letting go of her hand, but remaining close nonetheless. The upbeat song that was playing throughout their conversation faded into a slower tune, and the dance floor emptied considerably, leaving mostly couples to dance. Freddie noticed this and decided to take the personal space issue to the next level.

"If you're not Sam then you wouldn't mind dancing with me?" he said, convinced that she would finally crack. Sam hated slow dancing, and there was no way she would be caught dead doing it.

"No, I'd love to!" she said excitedly, standing up and holding out her hand to him.

"This is a slow dance you know?" he said, hiding his surprise at her enthusiasm.

"I know," she replied calmly.

"We'd have to dance pressed up against each other," he said, emphasizing his point with hand gestures.

"I know, now come on!" Melanie insisted, anxious to dance with the boy.

Sam pulled him onto the dance floor, and he followed reluctantly. He couldn't believe that she was still managing to pull this act off. They reached a spot between the other couples, and he put his arms around her waist. She placed hers around his neck and forced them closer together, surprising and annoying Freddie at the same time.

"I can't believe you're doing this," he said more to himself than to her as they swayed to the beat.

"Why," she said innocently, "I like you!"

That was where Freddie drew the line. Now she was doing more than just teasing him. She was playing with his feelings for her, and he would not allow her to do it.

"No you hate me; you always have!" he said in a stern voice, making his point very clear.

"Maybe Sam hates you..." Melanie replied, cocking her head to one side mischievously.

"You are Sam!" Freddie answered aggressively, finally starting to lose his temper. Melanie eyed him attentively, realizing that he would never believe that she really was Melanie, and that she really did like him unless she did something Sam would never do.

"Would Sam do this?" she said playfully, leaning in and planting a kiss on his mouth, which opened slightly in surprise, and then shut tight again in shock. She held her hands firmly at his neck, making sure that he couldn't pull away, but he put up no resistance at all. The kiss lasted only a few seconds, and she pulled away, opening her eyes and focusing on his stunned expression.

Freddie stared past Melanie, his thoughts lost in another time and place. The night on the fire escape came rushing back at him, and his heart gave that familiar flutter at the feeling of having Sam's lips on his. That night her lips had tasted of meatballs and they were slightly dry of moisture since Sam almost never made use of lip gloss. Tonight, however, her lips were sickly sweet with the taste of cherry lip gloss and the smell of an even sweeter perfume surrounded him. Perhaps this really wasn't Sam...

"You swore we'd never do that again!" he quickly said, still half-convinced that this really was Sam who was playing a very dirty emotional trick on him.

"I didn't swear anything..." she responded as she leaned in for another kiss, but this time Freddie reacted. He pulled out of her grasp and placed his hands protectively in front of him as he tried to escape as quickly as possible. He ran from her, and she followed.

Freddie finally managed to convince Melanie that it was time to go home as soon as she stopped trying to kiss him, and his mom picked them up and dropped Melanie off at Sam's place. Freddie was at least enough of a gentleman to walk her to her door, under his mother's watchful gaze of course.

"Thank you for tonight Freddie," Melanie said as they reached her door step, and she turned to greet him.

"Sure thing," Freddie said, awkwardly placing his hands in his pockets and glancing towards his mother who was waiting in the car.

"Sam must really play a lot of tricks on you if you're so convinced that I'm her," Melanie said, and he glanced at her suspiciously.

"Yeah, you do Sam," he said, refusing to be fooled by her sympathetic act.

Melanie shook her head in defeat and turned to her door, "Goodnight Freddie. I hope that next time I visit you and Sam will be on better terms. Then maybe you'll believe that I really do like you."

Freddie had nothing to say to that, so he simply nodded and turned to leave. He felt a hand on his shoulder just before he took a step, and he turned in surprise, leaning straight into a kiss on the cheek from Melanie.

"Sweet dreams!"

With that Melanie entered the house and shut the door behind her, leaving Freddie to face the wrath of his mother. He sighed as he realized she would probably want to spray him with disinfectant as soon as they got home after spending an entire night in the arms of a girl.

Sam was coming down the stairs as Melanie entered the house, a bucket of chicken bones under arm and a glass of soda in her hand. She had been on her way to the kitchen to dispose of said bones when she passed the window looking out onto the front garden. She had looked out absent-mindedly, but as soon as she spotted her sister and Freddie on the door step she paused to watch. Freddie seemed awkward, his hands deep in his pockets as he stood with his back to her, and Melanie's expression appeared to be one of disappointment. Freddie finally turned to leave and Sam turned to do the same, not spotting the kiss that Melanie gave him just before she entered.

"Hello Samantha," Melanie greeted her sister as she spotted her.

"Hey Mels," Sam said nonchalantly as she headed to the kitchen.

"How was detention this afternoon?" Melanie asked as she followed Sam into the kitchen, setting down her purse on the counter.

"As great as detention can be," Sam replied, dumping the bucket of chicken bones into the bin, "How was your date?"

"Alright considering the situation," Melanie said, pouring herself a glass of water.

"Situation?" Sam questioned.

"Well, he's still convinced that I'm you," she explained, "So it was difficult for us to really talk about anything without him comparing what I said to what you would say. It was still fun dancing with him though."

"Although I don't know how you could have fun with a nub like him, I'm glad you had a good time," Sam replied, sipping the last of her soda and placing her glass in the sink.

"He's really not that bad Sam," Melanie tried to defend him.

"Yeah, yeah," Sam mumbled, but then she looked at her sister in surprise, "Wait, you _like_ him don't you?"

Melanie blushed in response and Sam flared up with an unexpected sense of anger, sadness and jealousy.

"He doesn't even know you exist! He thinks that you're me! How could you actually like someone like that?"

"Hey calm down! Why do you care? From what I can tell you must really treat him horribly if he's so sure that you're playing a sick trick on him! And besides," she said, her tone softening, "Even though he thought I was you there was something special about the way he looked at me. He held my hand so softly, and there were moments where he seemed to really feel something for me. He's adorable! I really like him..."

"Ugh, stop right there!" Sam said, "I'm going to bed before I have to listen to any more about your stupid feelings for Freddie!"

"My stupid..." Melanie trailed off in shock. She watched her sister closely, shocked by her sudden anger.

"_You swore we'd never do that again!"_

She had found the comment a little strange at the time, but had chosen to ignore it in her pursuit of Freddie. What had he meant by it? Had he and Sam kissed before? And why was Sam suddenly so edgy about the "feelings for Freddie" subject?

Melanie gasped as realization hit her, and she placed her hands to her mouth to keep from shouting out. Sam looked at her with her usual "You're so weird" expression and turned for the door, but Melanie was too fast for her.

"_You_ like him! Don't you?" she exclaimed, making Sam stop dead in her tracks and turn three shades darker.

"W-What are you saying Mels?" Sam said nervously, trying to hide her red face behind her thick curtain of hair, "That's just stupid!"

"You've kissed him before, haven't you?" Melanie said and Sam whipped her head around in shock.

"He told you! Oh man, that nub is gonna get it..." Sam growled, punching her fist into her other hand.

"No, no!" Melanie insisted, "He didn't tell me anything, I could just sort of...tell, you know?"

Sam glanced nervously at her sister, and then sighed, removing her fist from her hand and leaning against the counter in defeat.

"Fine, you got me," she said, "I like him a lot. I always have, I just could never admit it. And now it's too late..."

"Maybe it isn't..." Melanie said slyly, her tone making Sam jump forward and point her finger directly in Melanie's face.

"Don't you dare!" Sam said threateningly, "This isn't another one of your matchmaker cases! I like Freddie, ok, but he doesn't feel the same way. So just leave it at that, ok? You better keep this a secret; not even Carly can know, so just butt out of it!"

"But Sam..." Melanie began, but was silenced when her sister took a threatening step towards her.

"I don't want to hear it Mels! Just leave it as it is...there's nothing you can do about it."

_Hope you liked this one! I worked really hard on it so be sure to leave me a review! Huggles for all! ^.^_


	10. Chapter 10: No more secrets really?

_Hello! Here comes a SUPER long chapter just for you! ^.^ I was planning to update last week but then an idea struck me and I had to change the chapter! Hehe_

_I'm gonna try and update on a bi-weekly basis from now on so that the story can progress further after iStart a Fanwar airs. ;)_

_But enjoy for now and remember to review! _

**Chapter Ten**

No more secrets...really?

Five months and two weeks after their kiss on the fire escape Sam needed to go see a dentist. She had managed to lose one of her teeth during an iCarly sketch and Carly was insisting on having her see the damn tooth doctor. Sam was dead scared of going to the dentist; which explained why she hadn't had an appointment in years. Her mother had given up on taking her after she realized how much the check up's cost. Plus, it was difficult to find a dentist in town who would work on her since she always managed to bite them when they least expected it.

Not much had changed after Carly left her alone in the room with the dentist and his assistant. All he had to do was reach for the sharp suspicious looking object to make Sam spring at him and threaten his assistant with the very instrument. It took both Carly and the dentist to drag Sam off of her and pin her to the chair before the dentist managed to place a mask over her mouth and nose, giving her a heavy dose of "loopy gas".

Sam drifted off into dreamland so quickly after the mask was pressed to her face that not even she could believe it. She was normally able to fall asleep anywhere, in any position, but lately she had a lot of trouble feeling rested after sleeping. Her dreams were haunted by the feelings she was pushing deeper away day by day, and she had begun to feel ridden with guilt and paranoia. Being put under by the sleeping gas only intensified these dreams. Freddie's face was all that swam in front of her eyes; she remembered every laugh, every smile and every sweet moment they occasionally shared. She remembered when he would get frustrated with her, how they fought knowing she would win, but how he put up a fight anyway. The only thing that was present in her dreams more than Freddie was fried chicken, but even this didn't offer the same relief as it used to. Fried chicken had unconsciously become her code word for Freddie, and now whenever she mentioned or thought of it Freddie was right there along with it.

Even though her feelings for Freddie had been present since she first laid eyes on him they had never been this bad before. When she was little it was just a crush that she hid by bullying him as much as possible. It had remained this way up until a few months ago when she had realized that her feelings for Freddie had reached a much deeper level than she ever thought they could. She loved the stupid nub, and he had no idea. What could she do about it anyway? He could never return her feelings because he was convinced she didn't feel that way for him. How could you take back almost eight years of constant bullying in order to convince someone that you really had loved them all along? You just couldn't. Her sister had tried to convince her to let her do something about it; she was certain that there had to be _something_ she could do to fix them up, but Sam refused her point blank. She left on the plane the night after her and Freddie's date without seeing him again, and Sam breathed a sigh of relief as her sister boarded the flight. She loved her sis, but she was a bit of a handful in her own way, and Sam was grateful that she would only be seeing her in a year again.

So Sam continued to love Freddie in secret as she tortured him on a daily basis; just the way it was supposed to be. He had grown almost as strong as she was now, but he never fought back, and she liked to think that this was his way of showing affection for her. He allowed her to push him around because he was a gentleman; he would never raise his hand to a girl, even if that girl was her. And so Sam slipped away into her dreamland as the dentist finally set to work on her teeth.

XXXXXXX

Freddie was cleaning the lens on his camera and listening to music on his iPod to fill the silence in the iCarly studio when Carly entered behind him. The current song on his playlist was one of those weird ones that weren't particularly good but were still fun to sing along to.

"I like the way you touch my head, so why would you choose him instead? The girl who cuts my hair..."

A sudden squirt of pressurized air near his ear made Freddie jump and shout in surprise, ripping the earphones from his ears. He turned to find Carly standing behind him, an innocent expression on her face as she held the pressured can in her hand.

"Why so jumpy?" she asked suspiciously.

"Because you just blasted me in the head with pressurized air!" Freddie retorted, taking a step back and rubbing at his ear.

"I was here, I know what happened," Carly jokingly denied her action, placing the can back on the table and heading over to Freddie's tech cart.

"So how'd Sam do at the dentist?" Freddie asked her, following her to the cart and grabbing a piece of equipment that needed cleaning.

"As you'd expect," she replied.

"She bit him?" Freddie asked, already knowing the answer.

"Four times!" Carly confirmed his thoughts, "He may lose part of his finger. But then the dentist gave Sam some of that wacky gas," she continued.

"Nitrous oxide?" he supplied her with the correct term, to which she mumbled an unimpressed agreement.

"And then..." she carried on, pausing to giggle at what seemed like a memory from their trip at the dentist.

"What?" Freddie said, still polishing the camera lens and enjoying the bit of alone time he had with Carly. They didn't often have time to hang out together alone since Sam was always around, so Freddie treasured the Sam-free moments as much as he could these days. It didn't help that the memory of his kiss with Sam popped up every now and then when they were alone together, so he welcomed the times when he could just focus on Carly instead. His feelings for her hadn't disappeared at all; he still got jealous when she dated or crushed on other guys. He still hated the time she had spent with Griffin earlier on that month and was happy when they ended it. He didn't feel guilty about being happy about their break up either since Carly seemed just as relieved. He still laughed at the fact that "bad-boy" Griffin collected Pee-wee babies.

"Oh, she started saying some...pretty weird stuff..." Carly continued her story, and Freddie snapped his attention back to her. She seemed awkward for some or other reason, and he was confused by her behaviour.

"Weird how?" he asked, curious to know what Sam had said. She must have said something really embarrassing for Carly to be so awkward...if Sam really was the cause of it at all.

"Like, she thought her thumb was missing," she said.

"Was it?" he asked jokingly, heading back to the table he had been working at earlier.

"No!" she replied forcefully, giving him reason to believe that she had been asked this before. No doubt by Spencer.

"And, um...then..." Carly said uncertainly as Freddie bent down to pick up the lens cover he had dropped earlier in surprise. He returned it to the table just as Carly said something that made his heart jump into his throat.

"She said that you two kissed..."

He froze in shock as she watched for his reaction. All sorts of different cover stories were rushing through his mind as he saw Carly's expression turn from uncertainty to suspicion. He was certain that the guilt was all over his face; he had romantic feelings for Carly after all and he felt like a cheating boyfriend who had just been caught. Even though he and Carly weren't together he still felt loyal to her and harbored the hope that one day she might feel the same way for him. As he thought all this he tried to fill the awkward silence without really thinking about what he was saying.

"So she...really thought her thumb was missing? That's so crazy!"

"And," Carly emphasized, abandoning his tech cart and making her way towards him "She said that you two kissed!"

"Uh, I'm coming mom!" Freddie called to the empty studio, stepping to the right and trying to make a hasty exit via the elevator.

"Your mom didn't call you!" Carly retorted, stepping in front of him and blocking his way out.

"I heard the whistle!" Freddie said unconvincingly. Actually, he was sure it wouldn't surprise Carly to find out that his mother really did have a special whistle for him, being as overprotective of him as she was.

"Is what Sam said true?" Carly asked him sternly.

"No," he protested, avoiding the real question, "I'm sure she has both her thumbs!" He held his thumbs up to demonstrate, but she grabbed both of his hands to keep him from running away and moved in closer.

"Did you and Sam kiss?" she asked him directly, and he averted his eyes from her anxious expression. There was no way that he could deliberately lie to her about this. Yes, he had sworn to Sam that they would speak to no one about it, but he still felt a lot of loyalty towards Carly. If she was this upset by suspecting their secret she would be even more upset if she found out they had lied blatantly about it. He would still try to avoid her finding out at all costs though.

He tore his hands from her grip and veered to the left this time, trying to run for the door, but Carly was hot on his heels and she managed to grab him from behind and force him to the ground. Sam wasn't the only one who could be physical with him; Carly had always managed to overpower him when need be, but he had grown more since the last time she had done it. He fought against her, not wanting to hurt her, but trying to gain the advantage nonetheless. She managed to pin him from above, his arms on either side of his head, and a flash of memory came to the forefront of his mind as he saw her dark hair form a curtain around their faces.

"Tell me!" she shouted in frustration, and he responded with a confident "No!" rolling her off of him and pinning her to the ground instead.

"Whoa," she exclaimed as he forcefully pinned her, "When did you get so strong?"

"Same time the voice got lower," he answered, and his thoughts temporarily left the current situation to reclaim the memory that had troubled him during their squabble.

"_Pass the crisps Freddork," Sam muttered incoherently, her eyes trained on the television and a bottle of cream soda clutched tightly in her hand. There was an MMA fight on, and the two of them had decided to use the empty Shay apartment to indulge in their secretly shared pleasure. Carly and Spencer had gone to visit their dad for a few days; he was taking a short holiday away from the submarines and ships he was used to and he wanted to treat his children with a trip to Miami. So Carly had taken off school and she and Spencer had flown to meet their dad a few days ago. Sam and Freddie (mostly Freddie) had been left to take care of their apartment while they were gone, and it was a welcome escape from home. _

_Sam was constantly there after school and at night; she and her mother were squabbling about something again so she enjoyed the freedom to stay at Carly's place at her leisure. Freddie was there from after school until early evening, which was when his mother called him for supper. Some nights he came back after supper to spend some more time with Sam, but he mostly stuck to his room after dark .It was one of these nights where he and Sam had talked, really _talked,_ for the first time._

"Did you and Sam kiss!" Carly asked again, more aggressively this time, and Freddie was brought back to reality. He had no choice; Carly would hound him until she got an answer out of him and she would be able to tell if he was lying or not – he really was a terrible liar.

"Ok, yes, it's true...Sam and I kissed!" he admitted to her, sighing and admitting defeat.

"Oh my God!" Carly said in disbelief. Freddie let go of her hands and hoisted himself up, holding out his hand to her in order to help her up. She accepted it cautiously and he pulled her to her feet.

"I was bummed about never kissing anyone," he explained exasperatedly, embarrassed that he now had to indulge Carly in the whole story, "I was out on the balcony and Sam came out...and she said she never kissed anyone either, and we ended up kissing!"

"Oh my God!" Carly said again, this time sounding more shocked than the last. The kiss with Sam swam before Freddie's eyes, and a panic rose in his chest at Carly's tone. He knew now that his feelings for Sam were nothing compared to what he felt for Carly, and he was scared that he would lose her now that she knew he and Sam had kissed.

"It was just one time!" he tried to reassure her, but then another memory prodded at his consciousness, "Except for that other time..." he added uncertainly.

Carly furrowed her brow at his remark before eying him with a strong sense of betrayal.

"But that might have been Sam's twin sister!" he tried to redeem himself, "I'm still fuzzy on the whole Melanie thing!" he said, confused himself now as to how many times he had actually kissed Sam Puckett.

"You guys are my best friends!" Carly started quietly, "How come neither one of you told me?"

"We promised each other we'd never speak of it again," he explained. Then reality hit him. Crap! If Sam found out that he had told Carly she would kill him!

"Aw, man! I've been speaking of it again!" he shouted, forcing his hands into his hair before throwing his arms out in even further defeat.

"I'm calling Sam right now!" Carly said, taking her phone from her pocket.

"No!" he lurched forward and grabbed Carly's hands, preventing her from calling her best friend. "If you tell Sam I told you she'll kick me in places that should never be kicked!"

His fear was genuine; she had threatened him about this before hadn't she? His mind brought the memory of when Spencer and Carly were out of town to the front again, but he pushed it away; he would think on it later when he wasn't trying to prevent Carly from ending his life.

The two of them argued for a minute about whether to call Sam or not, but Carly eventually gave in after Freddie's insistence.

XXXXXXX

Freddie returned to his apartment soon after his confrontation with Carly. He had managed to calm her down a little before he left, but she was still anxious to talk to Sam when he gave his hasty goodbye. He had at least convinced her to talk to Sam and get the secret out of her instead of confronting her about it, but he was doubtful as to whether she would succeed or not.

He entered his room while deep in thought, kicking the door closed and collapsing onto his bed with a groan. He placed his palms over his eyes, blocking out the sun that was streaming through his open windows. He could feel a headache starting and he began rubbing his temples in frustration while keeping his palms pressed over his closed eyes. Why did Sam have to be violent with the dentist? If she had been a little more in control of herself then the dentist would have given her a normal dose of nitrous oxide and then she wouldn't have been so loopy afterwards. Then their secret could still be safe and they would all be able to get along as they normally did. Now that he was alone he absorbed himself fully in the memory that had bothered him during his and Carly's confrontation.

"_Pass the crisps Freddork," Sam said incoherently, causing Freddie to raise his head from his notes._

"_Hm?" he voiced so that Sam could hear him, "Did you say something Sam?"_

"_Yeah," she replied, her eyes not leaving the screen, "I asked you to remove the stupid from your ears and pass me the crisps Freducation."_

_Freddie shook his head at her rudeness, but leaned over and grabbed the half eaten packet of crisps from the other side of the table and tossed them lightly to her. She didn't say thank you, but instead gathered a handful and shoved them all into her mouth at once. Freddie rolled his eyes at her and returned to the notes he was studying for a quiz the next day. _

_The two of them had fallen into a workable routine by now; they walked home from school together every day, sometimes getting a ride from either Freddie or Sam's mother and immediately headed to Carly's. The fridge was still full of food that the Shay's had left behind, and Sam made it her duty to make sure that everything was devoured before it reached its expiry date. Freddie made sure to dust the house almost every evening before he went to have supper with his mother so that it remained clean and he had even managed to get Sam to at least fold her blanket up after she spent the night on the couch. _

_The first few days he and Sam squabbled like they normally did over petty things, such as sharing some of the food and who got to watch their favourite shows on the television. Sam won all of these, of course, but Freddie soon learnt how to get his way._

"_America Sings is on!" Sam announced on their fourth day in the apartment, flopping down on the couch and snatching the remote from Freddie._

"_Hey!" Give it back!" he protested, but she held the remote out of reach and proceeded to nudge him away with her foot._

"_It's Momma's T.V time Freddio!" she said, changing the channel just in time to see David Archuleta perform._

"_I was watching that Sam, come on!" _

"_Make me!" she said threateningly, kicking him further away so that they were now on separate ends of the couch, her leg holding him firmly in place. Carly was retuning tomorrow morning so that she could be in time for the next iCarly show, and Freddie couldn't wait for her return. Sam was becoming more and more frustrating by the day._

"_Fine!" Freddie admitted in defeat, "I'll just go study for Ms. Briggs quiz tomorrow."_

"_Q-Quiz?" Sam repeated, the strength in her leg faltering, allowing Freddie the opportunity to escape from her hold, "What quiz?"_

"_You know, the Science quiz? The one worth half of our grade?"_

"_Aw, man I forgot about that!" Sam said, gritting her teeth._

"_If you fail this test you'll have to take extra classes during the summer you know?" Freddie said, making Sam's eyes widen with fright. An idea occurred to him then._

"_Hey," he said softly, taking a step toward her and smiling slyly, "I'll let you borrow my study notes if you want?"_

_Sam's eyes brightened all of a sudden and she smiled widely in thanks, jumping up to stand in front of him._

"_Really?" _

_He nodded, and her smile grew wider as she breathed a sigh of relief._

"_It'll cost you though..." he said slyly, and the smile dropped from her face. She sighed again._

"_What do you want?" she breathed out, crossing her arms in annoyance._

"_Let me watch what I want, when I want to, with no complaints?" _

_She groaned, "Ah, no! You're going to watch all these boring nub shows then!"_

_Freddie shook his head._

"_Do you want to stay in school all summer?" he asked her, and he saw her bite her lip in thought. He waited for her answer, his eyes roaming along her bottom lip, recalling how those lips had felt against his. He shook his head again, clearing the image from his mind. It kept coming up whenever he looked at her, and he was trying his best to forget it._

"_Fine!" Sam gave in, "But no Discovery Channel, okay? Unless it's wild animals tearing things apart or experiments in which they blow stuff up."_

_Freddie nodded. He headed over to his bag and took out his study notes, handing them to Sam._

"_Take care of those!" he cautioned as she whipped around and planted herself on the couch again, "I still need them to revise later."_

"_Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Sam said, already pouring over them._

_A few hours later their roles had been reversed; Sam was now watching an MMA fight while Freddie sat on the floor, studying at the coffee table. Sam's feet were propped up on the table next to him, her surprisingly clean sneakers moving along to the beat of the background music while the fight continued. She was steadily munching on the packet of crisps that he had passed her earlier, completely focused on the fight. Freddie's stomach twitched at the smell of the crisps and he cursed himself for not adding food into the bargain for his study notes. _

"_Come on Jackson!" Sam shouted all of a sudden, and he looked up from his notes again to see the two fighters sprawled out on the floor, caught in a death lock. _

"_How much time is left?" Freddie asked excitedly, He actually enjoyed the MMA fights when he got to see them; his mother never allowed it of course, but every now and then he got to watch it with Sam at either her or Carly's place. _

"_Fifteen seconds!" Sam yelled, removing her feet from the table and standing up now, "Colt's got the advantage, now all he has to do is break free!"_

"_Come on Jackson!" Freddie stood up and joined in with her cheering._

_The ten second marker flashed on the screen, counting down the seconds until the end of the fight, and he and Sam joined in. With three seconds remaining Jackson Colt broke free of his opponents grip and pushed him to the floor, kneeing him squarely in the gut._

"_Ooooo!" Freddie and Sam cringed together, just as the buzzer sounded._

"_Yes, he won!" Sam exclaimed, jumping up and extending her arms above her head. Freddie threw his arms out in victory as well, turning to face her. Her jump appeared to be more violent than she had anticipated, and Sam landed right into Freddie's outstretched arms, her arms automatically wrapping around his neck. The force of her landing caught Freddie off guard, and he toppled backwards as her body collided with his chest. They landed hard on the ground, still laughing from Jackson's win and the air got knocked out of Freddie for a moment. _

_He lay breathing heavily, his arms wrapped around Sam's waist, her mess of blonde hair covering his face as her head rested in the crook of his neck. He smelt a flowery scent in her hair from her shampoo, and it reminded him of roses. He only managed to inhale her scent once before Sam lifted her head and pushed herself up with her arms. Her hair travelled along with her and fell in a thick scented curtain around them both as they caught their breaths. She hovered over him uncertainly, her eyes still sparkling with excitement, and they met his innocently. He felt her stomach pressed tightly against his as he held her waist, and it rose and fell with her breathing, matching her quick heartbeat. His heart was throbbing in his ears from the fall, and the current situation only made it worse. The blood was pumping quickly through his veins and he couldn't help but feel a little turned on by having Sam's body so close to his. _

_Seconds passed, and their breathing steadied. His eyes never left hers, and he watched the sparkle fade slowly from them as she calmed down and began to fully realize what was happening. Freddie hadn't realized it yet himself, but he was pulling her closer to him, their faces closing the small space between them. It was at this moment that Sam pulled her gaze from his and forcefully pushed herself off of him._

"_What are you doing?" she said calmly, but her voice was a few bars higher than what he was used to. Her face was flushed, but she hid it behind her blonde locks so that he wouldn't see it. _

"_I..." Freddie started, not knowing what to say._

"_Damn Freddie, you really are no man," Sam said, standing up and heading back to the couch, "You have no muscle at all! You're worse than Spencer!"_

"_Sam!" he retorted, not having much more to say and sitting up himself. His head throbbed a little from when it made contact with the floor, and he put a hand to his head. What had just happened? He seemed to be asking himself that a lot these days and he could no longer stand the confusion._

"_Sam!" he said again, standing up, "What was that?"_

"_Hm?" she responded, her mouth full of crisps again, "Wa' you 'ean?" She swallowed. "What do you mean?"_

"_That!" he motioned towards the floor where they had fallen, "What were you doing?"_

"_Being pulled down by a nub who falls over his own two feet?"_

"_Sam!" Freddie said again, "Listen, I know you don't want to talk about it, but I really am sorry for the other night when we kissed..."_

"_You're...sorry?" Sam said softly._

"_Yes!" Freddie continued. He wanted to tell Sam that he didn't mean to hurt her feelings, and that he was only too shy to admit that he might feel something for her. He wanted to kiss her again; he had been thinking about it the whole day and every day after their kiss as well. _

"_You're...sorry that you kissed me?" Sam said, standing back up with anger flashing in her eyes now._

"_What? Wait, no, I-" he started, but was soon cut off by Sam._

"_At least you can say you've kissed somebody now!" she said matter-of-factly, "You just don't want anyone to know that it's me, right?"_

"_Sam-"_

"_Well, I'm not too thrilled that I kissed you either Frednub, but it's done and out of the way now, so don't bring it up again!"_

"_Sam, that's not what I meant by-" Freddie was cut off get again by Sam grabbing him by the front of his shirt and holding her fist at his face threateningly. _

"Never_ again, alright?" _

_He kept quiet, staring into her glaring eyes. She was always so violent with him for no reason at all and he couldn't stand it._

"_Sam..." he started again, but she shoved him back and let go of his shirt. _

"_No more questions and conversations about that night, alright?" she said forcefully, "We just did it to get it over with and we'll never bring it up again. No one will ever find out about it and we'll never speak of it again. It was nothing, right?"_

_He stared at her as she stood across from him, her arms folded and her foot tapping, waiting for his answer. His mind screamed at him "No, no, no! It was not nothing!" but Sam's cold denial of there being something more made him doubt that little voice._

"_Right..." he muttered in defeat. _

_He never noticed the brightness of her eyes and the threatening tears that never fell until he thought back on it later._

Freddie sighed and retreated further into the comfort of his bed. Carly had returned two days later from her holiday to find nothing different between him and Sam. They still squabbled and teased each other as usual, pushing their conversation from two days prior to the back of their minds. After all these months Freddie had honestly forgotten about it; he focused on his feelings for Carly instead and refused to believe that he had ever felt anything more than friendship towards Sam. But having Carly pin him to the ground earlier had reminded him of that day, and now his mind was a jumble of confusion once more.

If Sam had so readily told their secret to Carly once her defenses were weakened did it mean that she often thought about it? The only time it had ever been mentioned again was when Sam was trying to get Pete to like her, and her reaction to Freddie bringing it up was much the same as the last time he did it. He sighed and sat up, checking the clock on his nightstand. He had been lying there for over an hour already and being alone wasn't helping much. He stood up and grabbed a set of cables he had been meaning to install in studio and headed next door for some company.

XXXXXXXXX

"Why didn't you tell me that you and Freddie kissed?" Carly half shouted at her, and Sam's mouth dropped open in shock. Carly knew. The little nub spoke! Carly knew...but did she suspect her feelings? No...She couldn't, could she? Wait...Carly knew...Freddie must've told her!

"Uh..." was all that managed to escape her mouth.

At that moment the door swung open and in walked the villain himself, a set of cables in his hand and an innocent air about him.

"Hey, can I run upstairs for a second and install these ca-" he started, but he cut himself short when he saw her standing there. Sam was positive that she did not look happy; she felt betrayed and angry, and the sudden urge to jump Freddie violently overcame her.

He gulped and tried to say something that looked like "Oh", but no sound escaped from his mouth.

"You spoke of it..." she spit through her teeth, her menacing tone surprising even herself. Never before had she felt so angry.

A terrified scream filled the room as Freddie threw his cables aside and ran for it, heading into his apartment and shutting the door. She bounded after him, meeting the closed door and forcing it open; he had no time to lock it and he didn't have the strength to bar it with his body either, so she broke through easily.

"Leave me alone Sam!" he yelled desperately as she grabbed his left arm, bent down, grabbed his left leg and threw him over her shoulder.

"No!" he shouted in protest but it was no use.

She didn't want his mother interrupting the beating she was about to give him, so she turned around and carried him back into Carly's apartment as quickly as she could.

"Lemme go, lemme go!" he shouted as she threw him onto the couch before turning and running up to the open front door. She slammed it shut and secured it with the chain lock so that he wouldn't escape, then turned to him in anger.

"You swore you'd never tell anyone we kissed!" she shouted at him accusingly.

"I didn't!" he blatantly lied, and her anger increased.

"You told me!" Carly shouted behind her, and she turned to her friend in order to defend herself.

"I never told you anything about-" she started.

"Yeah, you did!" Carly cut her off, and Sam bit her tongue in shock, "When you were all hopped up on wacky gas!"

"Oh..." Sam muttered, stepping back in shame and finding Freddie standing right next to her. He provided a bit of comfort now that they were facing Carly together, but it didn't lessen her guilt.

Carly made her feel even guiltier by pointing out that she told them everything and that she felt betrayed that they never told her this. She didn't use the word kiss, but "make-out" instead, causing Sam to quickly set her straight.

"We didn't make-out!" she stopped Carly midway through her monologue.

"It wasn't like that," Freddie added from the side.

"We just did it to do it, you know?" Sam confirmed.

This didn't deter Carly in the slightest though, and she continued her speech, pacing back and forth for emphasis. She suddenly paused however, staring at something behind Sam and Freddie, and they turned to find two escaped prisoners staring back at them.

Half an hour later they found themselves duct taped to Carly's kitchen chairs, their hands, feet and bodies bound tightly together.

"Why did you tell him where the duct tape was?" Freddie said, his voice strained with the effort of not shouting at her.

"I don't know!" Carly responded, "I was trying to be helpful!"

"Yeah, you helped them alright!" Sam replied sarcastically, the irritation just as clear in her voice as it was in Freddie's.

"It's Freddie's fault! When you see prisoners escaping you don't announce that you're going to call the cops! _Well you do realize we have to call the police_," she imitated Freddie's voice with a sarcastic bite to it, causing him to glare at her.

"Man this duct tape is really strong!" Sam grumbled from the other side of Freddie.

"I hate being restricted!" he added.

"Don't worry," Carly started sarcastically, "Soon we'll all be free, then I can turn my back and you guys can resume kissing behind it!"

"We promise no more secrets!" Sam promised.

"Never again," Freddie agreed.

"From now on we all tell each other everything," Sam added.

"Alright?" Freddie asked Carly, reminding himself of when Sam had used the same tone of voice when asking him if everything was 'alright'.

Carly looked away, and Sam and Freddie thought that she was being stubborn and still wouldn't forgive them.

"You'll tell me everything?" they heard her say.

"Yeah," Freddie answered.

"We swear," Sam added.

"How long was it?"

"What?" Sam leaned forward to stare at her best friend, confused as to what she meant.

"How long did you guys kiss?" she specified.

Sam and Freddie looked at each other awkwardly, both too afraid to answer. Neither of them was sure; for Freddie it had felt really long, but for Sam it had felt too short. How could they know?

"I don't know..." Freddie mumbled, shaking his head slightly.

"S-Seven seconds?" Sam answered hesitantly.

"Seven, eight," Freddie agreed with her.

"Oh," Carly shrugged, "And was it fun?"

"Fun?" Sam repeated in disbelief.

"Yeah," Carly urged them to answer, "I mean, did you guys...you know...like it?"

Sam and Freddie stared at each other, their eyes avoiding contact as they both spluttered inside. This was not a question that they wanted to answer, but not answering would be worse because it meant that they each had something to hide.

Luckily, at that moment, Spencer burst in and seemed to make Carly temporarily forget her question. Their hour long struggle to escape their bonds while Spencer chatted up a girl across the street also rinsed the question from her mind. She felt no need to ask it again though; her friends didn't seem to know the answer themselves considering how they had silently asked each other with their eyes whether the other had liked it or not.

So now all the secrets were out, and every secret from now on had to be shared with best friends – just as nature intended it. But little did Carly know that she had only discovered one secret that day...there were many more secrets about Sam and Freddie that all three of them would never know.

XXXXXXXX

_Please review!_


	11. Chapter 11: Sam screws up

_Yay, finally an update! How was iStart a Fanwar for everyone? Even though Seddie didn't happen it was still a real funny episode, so I enjoyed it! _

_Anyhoo, here's Chapter 11. This chapter is the turning point in Sam and Freddie's relationship…throughout the story they've both had feelings for each other but are unable to admit it, and here Sam just screws everything up! (This is done to explain the lack of Seddie from iSpeed Date to iStart a Fanwar…excluding certain episode's of course.)_

_But lemme stop ranting so you can start reading. PLEASE let me know what you think about this chapter, the story in general or your speculations for upcoming chapters in your REVIEW! ^.^_

_Love_

_IamMu-chan!_

**Chapter Eleven**

Sam screws up

Sam ran in the direction of her home leaving the Groovy Smoothie far behind her. She could still hear the melodic tune pounding in her ears, even though she was three blocks away by now. Her feet began to ache from running on the platform heels she was wearing, so she slowed down to a walk to give her feet a rest. Sam hated wearing high heels; the only heels that she tolerated were platforms because they didn't make her feel as if she was balancing on a thin stick of plastic. The only reason that she was wearing heels was because of Carly and Freddie's sudden growth spurts, and she hated being shorter than them when they took photo's. She planned to surprise her friends by arriving at the dance, but she had been held up by Gibby when she had gone to claim him as her date. When she had finally arrived at the dance her two friends had already left (which indicated how bad their dates' company must have been) and so she headed to the Groovy Smoothie as she knew her friends had planned to do.

The school had announced earlier that week that they would be hosting a girls-choice dance, and a drama had ensued among the iCarly crew. Carly desperately needed a date; she had the opportunity to ask anyone she wanted, and she was probably one of the girls who would be turned down the least. Despite this she had only managed to work up the courage to ask one guy out, he had already been asked by someone else. It didn't help that she had accidently spit in his eye while she had nervously asked him either. She desperately wanted to go to the dance, and Sam decided to help her friend by asking any interested guys to enter a "Take Carly to the Dance" contest during one of their web shows. Eventually Carly managed to find a guy that she liked among the 752 guys that arrived while making Sam promise to take Gibby to the dance as compensation.

She asked him to the dance like Carly wanted her too but he turned her down. This infuriated Sam of course. Freddie had already been asked by another girl, and there were no longer any options available to her. Freddie was her very last resort; she didn't want him or Carly to get any strange ideas about her asking him, especially since Carly now knew about their shared first kiss. So she decided to force Gibby to go along with her, which had backfired since he had a date planned with his girlfriend that night. Sam still wondered what was wrong with that girl...

Sam shook her head and started running again, her heels dangling from her fingers as she clutched them by their straps. She definitely wasn't in a rush to get home; her mom was there with a new boyfriend again (Dave had not lasted, much to Sam's disappointment; she had actually liked him) so she was relieved to have a reason to be out of the house. Either way she just couldn't stand to be near what she had witnessed in the Groovy Smoothie. Despite the pounding in her ears from her heavy running she was unable to erase the picture in her mind, accompanied by the romantic tune which seemed to taunt her.

"_And if you love me please let it show...'cause you are meant for me..."_

She choked back tears as she watched them through her memories; Freddie had his hands placed innocently on Carly's back as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. Her head was resting on his shoulder, her face pressed into his neck as they swayed to the beat. Freddie's eyes were closed a he rested his head on Carly's, both of them lost in the moment. If only the music hadn't drowned out the sound of the bell over the door as Sam entered the building...if only he had decided to look up in just that moment and had noticed the look of sadness on her face. Sam shook the thought away.

Although she was showing interest in other guys Sam couldn't deny that her thoughts drifted to Freddie more than she liked. She treated him as badly as he remembered, and she gave the impression of a carefree teenage girl, but Sam Puckett couldn't hide her feelings from herself. Her feelings for him grew stronger by the day, but she didn't have the courage to admit them out loud to him, or anyone for that matter. The only person who knew of her feelings was on the other side of the country...

Sam reached her house, grabbing her keys from her purse and letting herself in. All the lights were out and her mother's car wasn't in the driveway, so she assumed that her mom and her new fling were out on the town. This suited Sam just fine. She flicked the light of the main room on, flung her heels into the corner and started searching for the phone. After a few minutes she located the phone in the fold of the couch cushions, which she proceeded to flop onto and dial the number she knew by heart.

It only took two rings before a sleepy voice answered on the other end.

"H-Hello?" she mumbled, and Sam felt the wall of tears she had been holding back threatening to break at the sound of her voice.

"Mels?" Sam said, hardly believing the quiver in her voice, "You awake?"

"Sam?" her sister replied, the sleepiness leaving her voice as she noticed her tone, "It's two in the morning! Are you okay?"

"Sorry," Sam apologized, "I forgot about the different time zones. I didn't mean to bother."

She was about to say goodnight and hang up before Melanie's concerned tone stopped her.

"Sam? What's wrong? You can talk to me, I'm awake, don't worry!"

Sam's heart went out to her sister at that moment; even though she wasn't as fond of Melanie as her sister was of her she really was the only person that Sam could talk to right now.

"Sam?" Melanie repeated when Sam didn't reply, "You there? What's wrong?"

"Mels..." Sam started hesitantly as the first tear fell and trailed down her cheek, "It's...it's about Freddie..."

She could sense her sister go from "kind of awake" to fully alert.

"Tell me everything," she ordered, and for once Sam didn't hesitate to obey.

XXXXXXX

"_Cause you are meant for me..."_

The song ended, trailing off into silence as he and Carly remained swaying on the spot, her head tucked into the crook of his neck. He felt her wanting to pull away, and he held on a little tighter before letting her go. She took a step back and brushed her hair from her eyes, a smile still playing at her lips.

"That was nice," she said softly and Freddie nodded, struggling to find his voice. He was overcome with emotion for the girl in front of him; even though they had started the night off with separate partners it felt like the two of them were now on a date. He had the strong urge to grab hold of her again, pull her close, and kiss her straight on the lips. He understood that she didn't feel the same though, and the awkwardness that would follow wouldn't be worth it.

Carly's cheeks were a little flushed, which he took as a good sign. Maybe she was starting to warm up to him a little more as the years went on?

"We should go," she said, taking her purse from the table and motioning towards the doorway. Freddie nodded, his eyes roaming the restaurant. He swore that he heard the bell tinkle while they were dancing, indicating that someone had entered, but he didn't look up since he was basking in the moment with Carly. Whoever had entered must have left quickly and silently though since the place was empty save for them and T-Bo.

"I'll pay for our smoothies," Freddie said, heading for the counter, "Meet you outside?"

Carly nodded and headed for the door as he took his wallet out to pay.

"Thanks," T-Bo said, accepting the money and getting his change. Freddie tapped his palms on the counter as he waited, looking back to see if Carly was still waiting outside.

"You want to buy some ribs?" T-Bo asked as he handed him his change, holding up a stick that was awkwardly stacked with impaled ribs.

"Uh...no thanks," Freddie declined, turning for the door, "Thanks T-Bo."

"Hmph," he heard him grunt, "I should have asked Sam when she came in."

Freddie paused, "Sam was here today?" he asked.

T-Bo nodded, paused, and then shook his head, "Not today, tonight. About five minutes ago. She came in while you two were dancing," he grinned at him for effect, "Don't think you heard her over the music, but my ears are trained to hear that bell over anything!"

"But, hang on," Freddie contemplated, "Where is she then?"

T-Bo's grin turned to a look of confusion.

"I dunno," he said, shrugging her shoulders, "She didn't even come up to the counter. As soon as I saw her I went for my ribs, but when I looked again she was gone. She must've changed her mind about wanting a smoothie."

"Hmm..." Freddie agreed, "That's too bad because she loves ribs. She might have even bought that whole stick off you T-Bo."

His eyes sparkled, "Really? Then I'll make sure to keep them for her 'till tomorrow! Now, you best get going to your girl," he added, pointing to Carly who was still waiting outside.

"Yeah, see you T-Bo," Freddie said, obviously distracted by the fact that Sam had come by and left hurriedly. She was supposed to be at home since she didn't have a date for the dance, so her coming by the Groovy Smoothie when she knew they were at the dance was out of her character. She almost never went to the Groovy Smoothie without him and Carly, so who could she have been meeting?

"Oh, tell Sam from me that I like her in a dress and heels," T-Bo shouted after Freddie as he left the store.

Freddie paused again to look at him questioningly. T-Bo was grinning, dead serious about what he'd said, sparking realization in Freddie. Sam was dressed up, no doubt for the dance, which means she must have found a date after all. A twitch of jealousy pulled at Freddie's stomach, which was soon replaced by a tug of guilt. She must have come to the Groovy Smoothie looking for them, and the only reason that she would have left without saying anything was because she found them dancing together. Normally Sam had no problem interrupting him and Carly while in conversation, so obviously she must have been a little shocked.

"_Or maybe she just didn't want to interrupt us out of respect..." _he thought. He immediately pushed the thought away though; Sam wasn't the type of person who did anything for him out of respect, so something must be wrong.

"Freddie!" Carly shouted from the sidewalk, "Come on, let's go!"

"Coming!" he answered and he hastily followed Carly as they walked the two blocks back to the Bushwell Plaza. Sam was on Freddie's mind the entire way.

XXXXXXX

"I'm worried Mels," Sam muttered. She had spent the last half an hour telling her sister everything; from the first day she had met Freddie to their kiss on the fire escape. She spoke about their constant bickering to the awkward silences that they sometimes shared. Freddie's love for Carly was a constant theme and it led to the telling of what had happened that night.

"About Freddie and Carly..." Melanie started.

"Yeah..." Sam responded, sniffing slightly. She was not the type to cry over a boy, but she had found herself close to sobbing as she told Melanie of her troubles, but she managed to keep it to only a few tears and a little shake in her voice.

"Look," she continued, when Melanie remained silent, "I've never really thought about it much since Carly has made it clear that she only sees Freddie as a friend. Before our kiss nothing bothered me at all when it came to Freddie and other girls...it still doesn't. If Freddie were to get a girlfriend now I'd be fine with it to a certain extent; I'd still insult him and his girlfriend occasionally, but since we're "only friends" I can't be jealous. But if that girl were Carly..."

She trailed off, not able of express herself in words any further. Sam and Carly were standing on exactly the same grounds when it came to Freddie. Even though Freddie loved Carly her feelings weren't mutual. Sam, however, loved Freddie, but his feelings for her were still unclear. Sam was convinced that he still hated her after all the years of torture she had given him, yet she couldn't help but hope that his feelings had grown a little stronger for her. Even though they had quickly become close friends she still hoped for more deep on the inside; outside she carried on being the carefree, nonchalant girl her friends knew her to be. All three of them were "just friends" even though they were for each of their own different reasons.

"Sam? Sam!"

Sam snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of her sister's voice.

"Sorry, sorry!" she apologized, "I zoned out for a bit..."

"Man Sam, this must really be eating you up..." Melanie said in concern. Sam's silence confirmed Melanie's thoughts.

"Listen Sam...you need to tell Carly."

"What?" Sam said in surprise, her full attention snapping back to her sister.

"If you tell Carly that you like Freddie then she'll NEVER do anything to take him from you. It's the number one rule for girlfriends: Never date a love interest, boyfriend or ex-boyfriend of your best friend. She'll stick to those rules. Maybe she can even help you and Freddie?"

"I've told you before!" Sam said sternly, "I'm not telling anyone else, and neither are you! I only told you because you're my sister. It's..." she paused, "It's nice to have someone to talk to."

They both kept quiet for a minute, both absorbing the rare bit of sisterly affection that they sometimes shared.

"Are you _sure_ you don't want me to call her?" Melanie asked.

"I'm sure Mels," Sam answered. Another few seconds of silence overcame them, and Sam was just about to say goodbye and hang up when Melanie spoke up again.

"You don't have to worry Sammy," she said, using the nickname she had used when they were still very little, "Carly doesn't feel the same way about him, and I doubt that'll change easily. You love him Sam...and I know he feels something for you too. You need to take a chance on this."

"You...really think he feels something more for me? More than hate and friendship I mean?" Sam asked tentatively. Even though it was nice to be open with her sister about this it was still awkward to ask these kinds of questions.

"There's something there; I felt it _for_ you last time I came to visit. But if you don't do something about it then I don't know how long that feeling will last. As long as he's convinced that you hate him then those feelings will never develop..."

At that moment a beeping sound over the line interrupted them.

"Ugh, hang on a sec Mels, I've got another call coming in."

"At almost midnight?"

Sam didn't pause to answer her sister. Instead she switched straight to the other line, expecting to hear Carly on the other end with news about the dance or her mother reporting that she'd be home later than she expected. Therefore she was surprised when Freddie's voice greeted her on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Sam?"

"Freddie?"

She went into a slight state of shock when she heard his voice and her mind hit a blank. She had spent a good part of an hour talking about him and a sudden feeling of fear gripped her heart. There was no way he could've known about her feelings or the current discussion she was having with Melanie, but the fact that he was so close to it at that very moment made Sam feel exposed.

"Yeah, I hope I didn't wake you or anything," he responded.

"N-No," Sam answered shakily.

"Hi Freddie!" Melanie's voice came over the line and Sam felt like kicking herself; she had forgotten to close the other line before switching to Freddie's.

"Who's that?" Freddie said quickly and Sam groaned while Melanie let out a little giggle.

"It's Melanie," Sam said roughly, knowing what was coming.

"Are you messing with me again Sam?" Freddie said suspiciously and Melanie giggled again.

"You still don't believe I'm real?" she laughed, "Sam, please do me a favor and show him some of our home video's with both of us in them. Then at least we can go on a proper date next time I come and visit."

"Yeah, sure," Sam said, the irritation clear in her voice.

"Sam and I were just having a bit of a late night chat," Melanie explained to Freddie when she noticed his silence, "But I'm heading back to bed now. Sam, I'll chat to you tomorrow again, alright? Sweet dreams! Goodnight Freddie!"

And with that she killed the connection on her side, and the line went dead. Sam pressed a button to get rid of the annoying beeping by closing her line. Now she and Freddie were alone...at last.

"Sorry about that," Sam said. She was met with silence.

"Freddie?" she inquired into the silence.

"Is...is Melanie real?" Freddie asked, his voice shaky this time. Sam sighed again.

"Yes," she was getting irritated now, "It's like I've been saying: I really do have a twin sister."

"B-But," Freddie stammered, "You admitted that it was all a hoax!"

"I just did that to shut you up," Sam confessed, "I was getting sick of you mistaking me for Melanie, so I decided to let you believe what you wanted to believe."

"T-That's..." Freddie trailed off, and she swore she could hear him shake his head violently on the other end.

"T-That's not what I want to talk about now!" he said, the shaky tone now being replaced by one of utmost seriousness. Sam was startled by his change in tone and her fears began to kick in again.

"Then what do you want to talk about?" she asked, and the fear that she was feeling changed her attitude drastically. She had gone from sounding annoyed and bored to vulnerable and almost flirtatious over the phone, and she checked herself before she went on.

"Freddork?" she added, making her sound a lot less Carly-like.

"You...were planning on coming to the dance tonight, weren't you?"

"Well, yeah," she answered.

"Who did you ask?"

"Gibby,"

"But I thought he turned you down?"

"Yeah, well...I kinda thought he was just scared to go with me so I went to pick him up. But when I got there he was already on a date with another girl. She doesn't go to our school so that's why he said no to me. That's why he said no, NOT because I'm hideous or anything."

Sam added the last statement as a heavy hint to Freddie; he had laughed when she got turned down by Gibby of all people, and she wanted him to know that she could be appealing to some guys if she wanted to.

"Oh, ok...go Gib!" Freddie joked and Sam smiled on her end of the line.

"She's smokin' too," she added.

"Really?" Freddie asked in disbelief, "I doubt a smoking hot girl would date Gibby. He's just...Gibby, you know?"

"Yeah...maybe you'll meet her one day and you'll see..." Sam trailed off.

"Anyway," Freddie continued, "I wanted to know why you were at the Groovy Smoothie and -"

Sam spluttered at his mention of the Groovy Smoothie.

"Wait, you saw me?" she said without thinking, "I didn't think you'd heard me while you and Carly were...you know..."

"Yeah," Freddie sounded uncomfortable, "I didn't...um...T-Bo told me he saw you. He wanted to sell you ribs but you disappeared before he got the chance to."

"Oh," Sam said, her stomach rumbling at the mention of ribs, "Well...what was it that you wanted to know then?"

"Well," Freddie explained, "At first I wondered why you were there in the first place, but now I know that you were planning on dragging Gibby to the dance, so that's answered."

Sam nodded, throwing her legs up onto the couch so that she was lying down. Her cat, Frothy, emerged from the kitchen, mewing slightly before jumping up onto her stomach. He twirled around and Sam allowed him to settle down there, purring.

"But I've been wondering why, um...why'd you leave so quickly?"

Sam gulped. Of course she couldn't tell him why she had left in a hurry. She had been hurt and shocked by seeing him and Carly in that intimate moment Even now the jealousy of her best friend churned at the bottom of her stomach along with her sudden longing for ribs, and it made it difficult to immediately answer Freddie's question.

"Sam?" Freddie checked that she was still on the other end of the line. He was concerned by her silence. He was also curious to her answer, but the recent discovery of Melanie's true existence had driven half of what he had been contemplating from his mind.

"Yeah, um," Sam sounded uncertain on her end, increasing Freddie's concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Yeah!" she answered almost too quickly, "I, um...I noticed how late it was when I got to the Groovy Smoothie and I remembered that I..."

Sam racked her brains for a good excuse for her strange behaviour that night, but the constant thought of what could have happened between Carly and Freddie after their dance made it increasingly difficult. She stroked Frothy distractedly, looking down at his purring form.

"That I..." she stammered, "I had to feed Frothy!" she concluded. "So I'm sorry I couldn't hang out with you guys!"

She tried to make herself sound nonchalant and bubbly as usual, but she could hear the fake tone of her voice and she begged that Freddie wouldn't catch onto it.

"That's it?" Freddie said, unconvinced.

"Yeah!" Sam tried to normalize her tone again. No success.

"Sam..." Freddie warned her and she felt anger begin to warm her up from her fingertips.

"What's with that voice Freddison?" she said defensively, "I'm sorry that I didn't hang out to watch you and Carly getting all cozy, ok?"

She took a sharp intake of breath as Frothy sunk his claws into her stomach at her abrasive tone. She felt like hitting herself at the same time; she hadn't meant to bring anything up about him and Carly. Freddie had gone silent on his end of the line; he had heard Sam make a noise that was almost like a sob after she mentioned him and Carly dancing and his suspicions rose along with his shock.

"Sam, are you _jealous_?" Freddie said in disbelief.

"Please!" he hear her say angrily, "More like _disgusted_!"

Sam let her anger get the better of her and she sat upright, Frothy jumping off with a meow of disapproval. She didn't care if she hurt his feelings right now and she began to rant.

"You drool over Carly all the time!" she started, "Do you have any idea how pathetic it is? She will NEVER date you Freddie, and you KNOW she doesn't feel the same way! Yet you hang onto her every word and follow her around like a puppy! Give it a rest already! No girl will EVER want you!"

Sam found herself on her feet, screaming into the phone. There were no tears threatening to spill, instead a binding rage had overcome her and all she wanted was to hurt him as bad as he was hurting her. She was the one who had feelings for him and all he could do was run after Carly while she tried to ignore the constant pain in her chest. At that moment she truly hated him, and she wasn't afraid to let him know it.

"Woah, slow down Sam! What-" he started, but she cut him off.

"I HATE YOU!" she shouted into the phone, "You're pathetic and I...I'll never forgive you for that!"

With that she hit the 'end' button and threw the phone across the room in outrage. It hit the wall and bounced off to land on the couch beneath it. Sam stood in the middle of the room breathing heavily, her hands clenched into fists at her side. She shook from head to toe as she contained the urge to throw something else across the room, and just as quickly as the rage had come upon her it disappeared.

Sam unclenched her fists as the shaking stopped and her entire body released the tension she had been feeling. And then a strong sense of guilt and defeat overcame her.

"Shit!" she cursed under her breath as she hung her head, "Damn it!"

The phone began to ring again, forcing as Sam to lift her head in surprise. Was it Freddie? No way would he call back to fight with her some more after what she had just said to him. She walked slowly over to the phone, picked it up and checked the caller ID on the little screen. The screen was cracked after hitting the wall, but it still functioned and after seeing who it was Sam pushed it to her ear hesitantly.

"Hello?"

"What happened?" Melanie shouted excitedly on the other end, "I wasn't sure how long I should wait before I call again, and the curiosity is killing me! What did he want to talk about?"

"He..." Sam started, feeling light-headed, "He...I..."

"What's wrong Sammy?"

"I just screwed up any chance of there being anything between me and Freddie...ever." Sam said simply. I was saying it out loud that finally allowed the dam of tears to break and overflow.

_XXXXXXX_

_O.o Don't hate me! Next chapter will be up sooner this time, I promise! Already written half of it and the rest is bubbling in my head! You'll enjoy, I promise! =P_

_Press the pretty review button and spend some quality time with it for me, k? Toodles!_


	12. Chapter 12: A year goes by

_Another update from me! ;)_

_So soon? Well, I had lots of inspiration last week to write, so here's the new chapter! Not sure when the next chapter will be up...hopefully next week! ;)_

_Please leave me a review – I truly appreciate any feedback and suggestions. =)_

**Chapter Twelve**

A year goes by

"_**We've got some pretty cool news for you guys!" Sam said into the camera, behind which Freddie was grinning widely.**_

"_**Next weekend iCarly's going to..." Carly started off.**_

"_**WEBICON!" the two girls shouted together in excitement.**_

Almost two years had passed since the night that Sam had given up all hope on Freddie. They were getting along just fine now, of course. Even though Sam often insulted Freddie or physically assaulted him in some way she admitted that he had finally reached best friend status along with Carly.

Many things had occurred between the three of them over these past few years; they had saved Principal Franklin's job, Freddie had finally gained some distance from his mother and Carly and Sam had almost died in one of their biggest fights ever. Sam had rediscovered her beauty pageant days and was secretly taking dancing lessons again, they had been offered the opportunity to travel into space and had saved Ginger Fox's singing career. They had been held hostage by a psychotic iCarly fan, helped a couple find love and Freddie had managed to get his driver's license.

The most painful memory for Sam over the last two years had occurred only three months after Sam had caught Carly and Freddie dancing together in the Groovy Smoothie. Carly and Freddie had dated briefly after Freddie had saved Carly from being driven over by a taco truck, and the two weeks in which they had dated had been absolute torture for Sam. Melanie had helped her realize that the one emotion that drove her to breaking point was that of jealousy, therefore she had found it difficult to restrain herself from punching somebody out of nowhere during this time.

While Carly confessed her love for Freddie and basically made him the happiest awkward teenage nub alive, Sam poured all of her energy into the game _Assassin _in order to keep her mind off of what Carly and Freddie were doing. It was a good distraction until she managed to annihilate Spencer. That was when she relied on Melanie the most. She couldn't believe how much she had begun to rely on her sister's bubbly and sometimes over-bearing personality in order to keep her sane; they didn't always speak about her complicated relationship with Freddie but instead focused on Melanie and her friends at school. After Sam had discovered that she actually missed dancing her sister was the one that had urged her to take lessons again. This gave Sam something else to talk to her sister about since she was keeping it a secret from both Carly and Freddie; she didn't think her mother even knew that she would take lessons three times a week at the community centre around the block.

"You know," Melanie had said thoughtfully during one of these frequent telephone calls. She was painting her toenails a shocking pink with her phone pressed between her shoulder and ear. Sam had told her a few nights ago about how Freddie had saved Carly's life and now she had just told her that the two were dating. She was amazed at how calmly her sister had relayed this information to her, but a constant thumping in the background led her to believe that Sam was slowly crushing something with her fist as she spoke.

"Yeah?" Sam answered and the thumping fell silent.

"I don't think Freddie realizes why Carly loves him," Melanie started, being interrupted by a groan from Sam.

"Please, I don't want to hear you talk about how great and modest Freddie is," she protested, "It's not exactly going to help."

"Oh, I wasn't going to do that!" Melanie insisted, closing the cap of her nail polish and sitting up straighter, "I was simply referring to the fact that Carly is only showing interest in Freddie now for a reason, which he is unable to see."

"Ok?" Sam's interest perked at her sister's words, "You mean because he saved her life? That's the only reason she now thinks she's in love with him?"

"Exactly," Melanie agreed, "No, we both know this because it's pretty obvious to us, but Freddie has been infatuated with Carly for ages now. According to him she's just finally come around after all these years. While he thinks this, and while Carly is still swept up him saving her life, they'll stay together. They're happy while they're both oblivious to it."

"So you're saying..." Sam trailed off, realization dawning on her.

"I'm saying that you need to tell Freddie that Carly is only interested in him because he saved her life." Melanie elaborated.

"Yeah..." Sam said thoughtfully, "Wait...why do I have to tell Freddie? Why can't I talk to Carly about it instead?"

"Because they're both going to deny it," Melanie explained, "They're as stubborn as you are Samantha, but once they really think about it they'll realize you're right. If you tell Carly she'll break up with Freddie and that won't help your situation at all."

"My situation?" Sam said defensively, "I've already told you that nothing can happen between Freddie and me. I've ruined all chances..."

"Yes, I know," Melanie agreed, not making Sam feel any better, "But this is how you're going to fix that!"

"How?" Sam said doubtfully.

"If Carly breaks up with Freddie he'll be hurt, but he won't give up on her. He'll be convinced that if she's dated him once then she'll do it again. But if Freddie breaks up with Carly he has a better chance of getting over his infatuation for her. And, if you're the one that convinces him, he'll start to see you in a new light...someone who saved him from heartbreak."

"Woah, as great as that plan sounds it can also go seriously wrong!" Sam said hastily.

"Like how?" Melanie interjected stubbornly.

"Well, Freddie could get angry with me for practically breaking him and Carly up...Carly could get angry with me for getting Freddie to break up with her...Freddie could hate me for getting involved." She ticked the possibilities of something going wrong off her fingers as she spoke, "He could end up hating me more than that time I told him he was pathetic and that I hated him."

"And look at how quickly that blew over!" Melanie insisted, "He was angry with you and you were awkward around each other for only a week or so before you made peace. By the time you did the iCarly Awards you two were back to your teasing ways. And besides, I know Freddie; he'll be grateful that you helped him. He won't be angry, I promise."

Sam smiled at her sisters words and nodded.

"Okay...you better be right!" she warned her, "If he ends up hating me more I'm never allowing you home for the holidays again!"

"Yeah right," Melanie teased, "You can't fool me Sam; I know you love me!"

XXXXXXX

"Yeah," Sam sighed, and Freddie pulled his eyes away from Carly's retreating form to focus on Sam instead, "Savor it..." she said sarcastically.

"Savor what?" he asked suspiciously. Sam had her back to him but he could sense that she had that smug smile playing on her lips before she turned to face him.

"The love," she said, turning around, "The Carly love..."

Freddie blew out a breath of laughter at her attitude. She was implying that they wouldn't last long, but now that Freddie finally had Carly as his he was never letting her go.

"Jealous?" he teased her, a cocky smile on his lips. He remembered the last time he'd asked her that question and how she had completely overreacted to it. Even now he was uncertain whether she was trying to cover up her jealousy or whether she really did find him pathetic. Through endless nights of thinking he had concluded that it must be the latter, which completely erased any romantic ideas he still held of her. He had been angry with her, but he had become used to Sam's hate for him over the years and all he had to do was fall back into the mindset he'd had before their kiss.

"Gross!" Sam's disgusted tone met his ears, confirming his thoughts. Sam would rather wrestle an anaconda than date him. A few days before this thought might have bothered him, but he was so happy at finally dating Carly that now it didn't stir him in the slightest.

"Then what's your problem?" he asked her confidently, knowing that he was probably about to start one of their play arguments.

"It's not my problem...yours," Sam answered just as confidently before turning away from him and heading to her locker.

"W-wait!" he exclaimed, following her.

"Go to class Crutchie," Sam dismissed him with a wave of her hand but he wasn't about to back down.

"What 'problem' do I have?' he asked her once he had reached her locker. He hated his crutches but they were necessary since his leg was still wrapped up in a cast.

Sam turned to face him almost apprehensively, her lips pursed. She let out a breath and seemed to weigh her options. Freddie waited for her patiently, his heart rate rising. Sam was never like this unless there was something seriously wrong.

"You want the truth?" she asked him. Freddie shrugged. What else would he want to hear?

"Let's hear it," he replied and Sam took a quick breath before speaking.

"Remember two years ago when I dated that guy Eric Mosby...kid with the big nose?" Sam started.

"Sure, Noseby Mosby," Freddie recalled, making Sam smile to herself that he remembered the nickname they had come up with.

"Uh-huh," Sam agreed. She had spent most of the night trying to come up with the best way to make Freddie understand what she was trying to say. She didn't want to come across as the jealous best friend of the girl he was dating, nor did she want to come across as a mean person trying to break them up. She needed him to understand that she was coming to him as a friend who wanted to save him from having his heart broken.

"And," she continued, "Remember how he tried to get me to be his girlfriend for, like, six months and I kept saying 'Get away from me or I'll kill you'?"

Freddie nodded, following what she was saying. Sam was grateful that he was a good listener; it was one of the things she loved about him and she was using that knowledge to her advantage now.

"And then he bought me a subscription to the 'Bacons of the World' club and then 'Boom!' I thought I was in love with the guy?" Sam said, trying her best to make her point very clear.

"I'm listening," Freddie said. Sam resisted the urge to slap some sense into him and spoke more forcefully instead.

"I was never in love with him," she said clearly, "I was in love with the foreign bacon that kept showing up at my door every month."

Freddie contemplated what Sam had said trying to see her point. It obviously had something to do with him and Carly, but he couldn't put his finger on what Sam was trying to say.

"Like a beautiful greasy dream..." she sighed, slipping into her world of meat before turning to her locker again. He chuckled.

"Uh, I doubt that bacon can make you think that you're in love with someone," Freddie teased her, making her step away from the locker again to stare at him in disbelief.

"You ever had Bolivian bacon?" she asked, pointing a finger at him.

"No..." he admitted.

"It changes you..." Sam sighed again, still absorbed by her love for all things meaty.

"Well I didn't buy Carly any foreign bacon," Freddie insisted, starting to head for class, "I saved her life."

"And that's Carly's bacon!" Sam's words stopped him and he turned around in confusion. She knew it was time for her to put it out there plainly.

"She's not in love with you, she's in love with what you did!" she said pointedly, watching for Freddie's reaction.

"You just can't stand the idea of Carly and me as a couple!" Freddie said, as Sam cringed inwardly.

"Very true," she answered, her insides cramping at the thought, "It makes me want to puke up blood."

Freddie shook his head and readjusted himself on his crutches, offended by Sam's unsupportive attitude towards him and Carly.

"But still," Sam continued, "What I said is true...and you know it!" she insisted.

"I've got to get to class," Freddie scoffed, convinced that Sam was delusional and simply out to break him and Carly up.

Sam watched him turn around and head for the nearest classroom. She didn't want to linger too long in the hallway just in case she got caught by a teacher so she turned to her locker and finally did the combination. She was proud of herself for handing the situation as calmly as she did; inside she was longing to hit something again.

"Here's Spencie!" Spencer shouted from inside her locker as soon as she jerked the door open. As he laughed manically, his blow-paint gun clutched to his chest Sam took satisfaction in slamming the locker straight into his face and stalking off. How he got into her locker she didn't know, but she did admit that he had made her feel a little better.

XXXXXXX

"So, are you two cool?" Sam asked Freddie a week later. They were sitting in the back of her Mom's car waiting for her to collect something from the post office.

Her mom had a tendency of taking longer than necessary in situations like these; she, like Sam, had a short attention span and managed to be distracted by everything. Even though Sam and Freddie both knew this they stuck around because she was their only ride home that day. Spencer and Carly had gone grocery shopping. Carly insisted on joining him because he always managed to buy unnecessary things (like two pounds of cheese that went off before they could eat it all) and Mrs. Benson was working overtime at the hospital. Normally Sam and Freddie would have walked home or taken the bus that day, but it didn't help that it was currently pouring with rain. So they were chilling in the backseat with the windows slightly open to let in fresh air and keep the car from steaming up.

"Me and Carly?" he asked in return and Sam nodded.

"I guess so," he said, picking at the skin around the cast on his leg, "I told her that we should wait for this whole thing to blow over first. If she still wants to go out with me afterwards then we'll try again."

"Sounds fair," Sam agreed with him, "Do you think she'll still be interested once the hero buzz wears off?"

Freddie stared out of the window, deep in thought and Sam watched him tentatively. She had celebrated his and Carly's breakup with Melanie after she had found out about it. She didn't find it an inappropriate thing to do since she knew that Carly had only gone out with Freddie because she was in love with the thought of him as opposed to who he really was. Melanie had expressed her pride in Sam for facing Freddie and telling him the truth, but she wasn't as celebratory as Sam and decided to give Carly the shoulder she knew Sam was unable to. Sam wanted to be there for Carly as she cried over her fake love for Freddie, but she was too happy about the fact that they had broken up to even pretend to be sympathetic. So Melanie adopted that role for her, but she reported that Carly wasn't that shaken up about it after all. What Freddie had said had made sense, and already she was feeling ashamed for 'falling in love' so quickly.

"I hope so..." Freddie muttered, pulling Sam away from her thoughts, "These casts couldn't come off any sooner. I guess we'll see what happens...but honestly..."

He trailed off and Sam poked him playfully with the end of the pen she was playing with to pass the time, urging him to continue.

"Honestly..." he continued, "If Carly still wants to date me I'll be happy about it and I'll take care of her..."

Sam's heart dropped a little with his words and she continued to play with the pen, not looking at him as he stared out of the window.

"...but if she doesn't I'd be ok," he concluded with a smile, "I dated her for a week, and I'd have loved for it to be longer but I'm just happy I got the chance at all."

Sam smiled at him as he turned to look at her, a soft expression in his eyes.

"I guess we'll see then," Sam agreed, twirling the pen in her fingers, "But these casts can't be that bad can they?"

"Ugh, they're terrible!" Freddie complained, scratching at the skin around them again, "The skin underneath is itchy ALL the time and I can't get to it. I can't wait to get around without these stupid crutches again."

"Well, you're wrist is almost all healed up," Sam said, tapping the blue guard around his hand lightly.

"Yeah," Freddie agreed, "But my leg will only be healed in the next three weeks..."

Sam watched as he scratched at the skin again, frustration clear on his face.

"Well," she said," slapping her hands on her knees, "I can't do anything about the itch, but I can make the casts a little more bearable," Sam exclaimed, pulling his leg up onto her lap.

"Ow! Sam, what are you doing?" Freddie yelled in surprise.

"Oh, shush," Sam quieted him, "I'm going to write something on your cast for you. I'll write you a new message every day for the next three weeks if you want?"

Freddie smiled at her as he settled back into the car door as she began to scribble on his cast in her untidy handwriting.

"Then there'll be no space for anyone else to write anything," he pointed out.

"So?" Sam replied, still scribbling away, "You don't have many other friends anyway," she teased him and he grunted.

"Yeah I do!" he defended himself.

"Sure..." Sam smiled slyly at him, capping the pen and turning his leg slightly so he could see the message written there in blue ink.

_Keep hopping Crutchie, _it read, _Three weeks and counting! Sam_

Beneath it she had drawn a funny-looking smiley face which looked like is flaunted a crazy head of hair and a one-tooth smile.

"Thanks Sam," he smiled at her and she grinned in return.

"What colour would you like tomorrow?"

XXXXXXX

"_**Ok, we're going to walk past some fans over there so stay close together..."**_

If only they hadn't underestimated how popular they were with their fans. Carly and Sam turned around to face their fans, waving slightly as they stuck close together like their coordinator had advised. Freddie took two steps forward to greet the fans when a girl with two pink bows in her hair shouted out to get the others' attention.

"Oh my God, it's iCarly!" she exclaimed, and all the girls near the railing reached out and grabbed hold of any part of him that they could. Before he knew it he had been pulled into the mob of girls and was laid flat on his back in the midst of the crowd.

Hands grabbed at his clothes and his hair, voices drowned each other out as girls hastened to proclaim their love for him and ask him questions. Some hands touched him in places that he deemed highly inappropriate and he shouted out while kicking his legs and covering his face helplessly. Despite the noise around him he managed to hear a loud yell that reminded him of Sam's battle cry. The crowd dispersed all of a sudden and he uncovered his eyes in relief, only to see Sam falling from above, her arms stretched wide as she yelled. He managed to turn onto his stomach just in time, protecting his front and Sam landed hard on top of him. As soon as she collided with him he felt the hands ripping at him once more and he rolled over as Sam lifted herself off of him.

"You owe me Fredbag!" Sam yelled at him, but the screams of the girls around them made it possible for only him to hear. With that she grabbed him by the ankle and proceeded to drag him out of the throng of girls. They carried on clawing at his face, his clothes, anything that they could get to as Sam pulled him to safety. He noticed a guy in the crowd grab at Sam's jacket but she shrugged him off like he was a mere fly. Freddie chuckled to himself. That guy obviously had no idea who he was dealing with.

Sam dragged him out and he lifted himself up as she positioned herself between him and the girls. Carly reached forward to keep him steady as he shook his head.

"Are you ok?" Spencer asked from behind Carly.

"Those girls almost tore you to pieces!" Carly said in concern.

"I know!" Freddie breathed out. Then Carly's words sunk in. A small smile formed on his lips as he realized that there were at least a hundred girls in that mob that wanted a piece of him. Him! Fredward Benson!

"Freddie, come back!" he heard a girl yell, and with that he let out a shout of triumph before turning on his heel and heading straight back into the crowd. He dodged Sam and pushed the security guard out of the way before diving back in. He wasn't worried; Sam would get him out before it was too late after all.

He was so wrong – Sam didn't come in to get him. This time the girls screams weren't as intense since he was willingly allowing them to run their hands all over his hair, his face, his clothes, his chest, his arms...thank goodness they were avoiding the inappropriate areas. After about five minutes of this he expected Sam to come leaping back in, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Sam crossed her arms and her feet as she watched Freddie leap into the crowd of fans once more. She chuckled to herself and half shook her head. She hoped he was having fun; it wasn't often that he got this type of attention.

Carly rushed forward after a few minutes as Sam hung back, allowing him to enjoy himself.

"Freddie!" she shouted desperately, "Freddie!"

When he didn't answer she gave up and rounded on Sam instead.

"Just go in there and get Freddie!" she ordered Sam, her agitation clearly visible.

"I already saved him once, that's all he gets from me!" Sam said defensively. She didn't like that Carly just expected her to do everything when it came to fighting or being tough; Freddie could also be tough, she was just waiting for him to show them.

After Spencer tried, unsuccessfully, to get Freddie out of the mob the screams seemed to manifest once more. Sam and Carly looked around to see Freddie fighting his way out of the crowd, girls hanging onto his back, trying to pull him back in. His hair was a mess and he fought hard, abandoning his jacket in their midst and making it safely back to his best friends.

"Nice meeting you girls!" he shouted as the girls tried to reach out and pull him back in once more. Sam stood directly behind him, her eyes roaming up and down his disheveled form in appreciation.

'_Man, Freddie sure can work the scruffy, bad boy look if he wanted to!' _she thought to herself as his shirt hung loosely off of him and he ran a hand through his ruffled hair. She tore her eyes away and focused on Spencer instead before anyone noticed her checking him out.

Spencer left to sign up for his "'stume" contest a second later and as Carly's back was turned Freddie noticed Adam sneak up behind her.

"Hey lady!" he said in an animated voice, grabbing her attention.

"Adam!" she exclaimed, the joy clear on her face.

Freddie scowled; he and Carly never discussed the option of dating again after the "hero business" had worn off, and he took it as a clear sign that she was no longer interested. Despite this he was still protective of her and he often expressed his dislike of her love interests. He had taken on a brotherly position over Carly, and he and Spencer often shared thoughts on how Carly was going through guys. Others might see his reactions as that of jealousy, but it was nothing like that. The only girl that could make him jealous at this point was standing right next to him, throwing knowing glances at him as Carly and Adam conversed.

"Ok," their coordinator came over, "We're going to take you through another way," he said.

"Great!" Sam said, "Let's go!"

They followed the coordinator to a back entrance and prepared themselves for the conference that was about to take place. Sam wasn't prepared in the least for what she would be faced with inside as well as outside the conference room.

XXXXXXX

_So, what did you think? I personally loved this chapter! Hehe...Lemme know in your reviews!_


	13. Chapter 13: Princess Puckett Discovered

_Hey everybody! Happy late Merry Christmas and I hope your New Year will be AWESOME! I know this chapter is up late, but I've been at the beach for the last two weeks so I've had no access to Internet for a while. =( I quickly got a connection and decided to update! Next one up in two weeks (maybe sooner if inspiration hits ;)) Keep reading, keep reviewing and I'll keep writing! Luvs you! _

**Chapter Thirteen**

Princess Puckett discovered

"_**Sam!" Freddie shouted through the open window, driving slowly alongside her as she trudged along the sidewalk, her blonde curls bobbing behind in her haste to get away.**_

"_**Leave me alone Benson!"**_

"_**Sam, I'm sorry!" Freddie shouted desperately.**_

"_**You didn't do anything wrong," she started, "J-Just go away!" Sam shouted back, her sneakers wet from the rain. Stupid Seattle weather. **_

"_**What are you upset about then?" he shouted, swerving the car a little to avoid a rubbish bin that had spilled into the road.**_

"_**Get lost Benson!"**_

_**Sam didn't know how to face him. He had discovered her secret. Nobody but Melanie knew about her secret, and she liked keeping it that way. She didn't want things to change – she wasn't ready yet. She didn't know if she ever would be...**_

After Webicon she, Carly, Freddie and Spencer had made their customary stop at the Groovy Smoothie before they headed home. As they parked in a vacant spot along the sidewalk the rain started coming down in a light drizzle and Sam had been thankful for the shelter they found in the crowded cafe soon after. Almost as soon as they entered the shop Carly's cell phone rang, and when she answered they were all met with a loud shouting on the other end.

"Carly?" Adam's voice shouted through the line, loud enough for all of them to hear, but it was the shouting in the background that really caught their attention.

"Adam?" Carly responded less loudly, but just as frantically, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine!" Adam shouted back. A loud banging started on his side of the line and they heard a slight scuffling before Adam spoke again.

"I managed to barricade myself in one of the bathrooms," he gasped.

"Which one?" Carly asked.

"Does it matter?" Adam shouted back and they heard him gasp as the banging continued.

"Sorry," Carly said, "What have you barricaded the door with?"

"My body," Adam responded as more scuffling was heard. The shouts got louder for a second and then got muffled once more along with the bang of a door, "But I can't hold them off for long," he continued, "Will you help me get out of here?"

"Of course I will!" Carly said, turning immediately to Spencer, "We have to go back!"

"But we just got here!" Spencer protested, stomping his battle staff on the floor very much like a five year old would stamp their foot.

"Spencer!" Carly argued with him, "We can't just leave him there!"

"You did before!" he reminded her.

"That was different," she said defensively, "He didn't stand a chance then. Now we have a better chance of saving him."

They had left Adam surrounded by their delusional fans about twenty minutes ago as they attacked him. They believed that Adam had torn Carly and Freddie apart and therefore they would do the same to him in more physical terms. Sam had found the entire fact that their fans were obsessed with Freddie and Carly's romantic relationship hilarious at first, but after the hour long brawl that had taken place at Webicon she was now rather annoyed by it all.

"We're coming Adam!" Carly shouted into the phone as they heard the shouts grow louder once more, and she grabbed Spencer by the front of his costume and dragged him out of the door.

"I'll see you guys at home soon, ok?" Carly shouted over her shoulder just before the door slammed shut, leaving Sam and Freddie standing in the middle of the Groovy Smoothie with identical expressions of confusion.

"Guess that's that," Sam said, shrugging.

"Yup," Freddie agreed, popping the "p" as he shoved his hands into his pockets, "Do you want to get a smoothie or do you want to head home before the rain gets worse?"

Sam was tempted by the smoothie offer, but the weather didn't exactly fit the mood.

"Can you make pancakes?" she asked him spontaneously.

"Yes..." Freddie responded reluctantly, confused by her question.

"Then let's head home now," she decided, "And you can make some for me."

"And have some ready for Carly and Spencer when they get back?"

Sam snorted.

"Good luck!" she scoffed, "Momma's hungry!"

Freddie shook his head and grabbed her by the elbow, leading her to the door, "Then let's hurry Princess Puckett."

Sam allowed him to lead her to the door as she marveled at her new nickname. He wasn't one for giving her nicknames, unless they were insulting one's. These he also never managed to get right either, since he found it difficult to insult anyone as well as she did. It was only once she felt the light spray of rain on her cheeks that she snapped herself back to reality. She was blushing.

"P-Princess?" she questioned him, trying to sound patronizing but failing dismally.

He glanced at her and shrugged his shoulders.

"What?" he answered as if giving her a girly nickname was an everyday occurrence.

"What's with the prissy nickname?" she asked, falling into step beside him as they made their way towards the nearest bus station.

"It's not prissy!" Freddie insisted and she raised her eyebrows at him in disagreement. He glanced at her, looking intimidated for only a second before breaking into a smile.

"Okay, okay," he agreed, "Prissy for you. I just thought it fitted nicely."

They carried on walking as she waited for him to say something more. The light rain was refreshing after their trying morning at Webicon, but Sam didn't feel relaxed at all. Her heart was pounding hard in response to his words. It fitted? Fitted her how? When he remained silent she elbowed him roughly in the ribs.

"Hey!" he protested, and she made a gesture with her hand, indicating that he carry on.

"How does the term "Princess" suit me?" she elaborated when she was met by his confused expression.

"Oh," he chuckled, "It's just...no, don't worry about it."

She prodded him hard in the ribs again, trying to force the information out him.

"Ow!" he took a step away from her, massaging his aching ribs, "Alright, no need to get violent!"

"You're actually telling me that?" she responded and he sighed.

"Don't contradict what I wanted to say before I even say it," he answered, and this time she was the confused one.

"Princess fits," he started in order to answer her questioning gaze; "It fits because you look like one of those stereotypical Disney princesses. You know; all long blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes."

Freddie stopped short, realizing that he was maybe telling her too much about what he thought of her. She urged him with her eyes to give her more information though, so he continued.

"Your behaviour isn't princess-like at all though," he continued, and an evil grin sprang onto her face, "Except for one thing."

Her grin fell into a small smile that played at her lips in response to his words. She knew he was about to compliment her by comparing her to a princess, but he just wasn't sure she'd accept it as a compliment or an insult to her character.

"The way you walk," he said, gesturing to her entire body with his left hand, "You've got...poise, I guess. Your back is always straight when you walk, which is surprising from all the slouching you do in class and at home. You never used to walk like this...I guess it developed as you got older. But you walk like a princess who's been trained to keep her balance by walking with a stack of books on her head. It's elegant."

Freddie had ranted on longer than he had wanted, and with that said he cleared his throat and proceeded to turn his head the other way, looking in the windows of the other stores and restaurants they were now passing.

Sam felt the blush building on her cheeks as Freddie finished his explanation. He had noticed her walking better - this was a direct result of the dance classes she had been attending over the last two years. He had actually noticed it, and that filled Sam with a joy that she found unbearable to contain. Not only that, but he had likened her to a princess in more ways than one.

"When did you start watching Disney movies?" she scoffed as she tried to hide her red cheeks behind her mess of blonde hair.

"I have a baby cousin, okay?" he replied defensively and Sam laughed.

"So baby Stephanie doesn't hate you that much anymore?" she asked.

"Quite the opposite," Freddie replied, "She loves me because I'm the only one who's patient enough to watch the same Disney movie over and over with her. Sleeping Beauty..."

Sam watched Freddie closely to find that he was now blushing slightly.

"She reminds me of you...so that's where the Princess nickname came from..."

"I like it," Sam said, smiling, and he glanced at her quickly.

"You do?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Sam said, "But not in front of anyone else! You can call me Princess Puckett if you want...but it's between us, ok?" she warned him.

Freddie smiled widely as they reached the shelter of the little bus stop a block away.

"You got it."

XXXXXXX

Sam was doing her stretches, alone in the small dance studio where she and a few other teenagers were taking lessons. She was humming slightly to herself, her thoughts lingering on the afternoon she had spent with Freddie in Carly's apartment. He was actually quite good at making pancakes – he could even flip them when they were done – and Sam had eaten enough of them to highly compliment his cooking skills.

"_Man Freddie, these aren't bad!" she exclaimed after her second pancake. Freddie was busy preparing her third one as another one sizzled on the pan. He sprinkled cinnamon sugar on it, followed by lemon juice and a small dollop of syrup before rolling it up and adding it to her plate._

"_Thanks!" he said, turning back to the pan, "Nothing but the best for Princess Puckett!" he teased._

_Sam grimaced at him, her mouth full, and quickly returned to her treat. _

"_They're easy to make though," Freddie said, poking at the pan with a spatula, "I can teach you if you want?"_

"_Na," Sam said without a second thought, "I'm happy just eating them."_

_Freddie laughed quietly, shaking his head at her. He proceeded to take the pan by its handle and flip the pancake into the air. It flipped in a perfect circle before landing firmly back in the waiting pan. Sam's mouth fell open in surprise._

"_Woah," she remarked, "You can teach me how to do that!" _

_Freddie grinned at his own accomplishment and beckoned for her to come over. Sam stuffed the last bit of her third pancake into her mouth and hopped off the stool, coming over to him._

"_It takes some practice," Freddie said, handing her the pan by its handle and positioning her hands correctly, "But it's all in the wrist. Don't flip it too hard, else you won't be able to catch it again."_

_Sam nodded and lifted the pan high into the air, level with her face. The pancake sprang into the air, flipping over backwards and landing on the fridge, slipping off and landing on the floor._

"_Oops..." Sam muttered, gritting her teeth and smiling awkwardly. Freddie smiled and scooped up the ruined pancake, putting it in the bin._

"_Don't worry," he said, taking the pan from her and pouring a spoonful of the pancake mix into the pan, swirling it around, "Like I said – it takes practice. Try again."_

_Sam nodded, ashamed that she had wasted one of Freddie's delicious pancakes. Her stomach growled for more and she swallowed slightly. She didn't want to ruin another one. They waited for the mixture to cook, the pan sizzling slightly. Freddie flipped it around when he deemed the one side ready and they waited some more. They stood in silence, Sam drumming her fingernails on the counter in impatience and Freddie keeping a keen eye on his creation._

"_Ok," he finally said, poking the pan with the spatula once more and loosening the pancake, "It seems ready to flip."_

_Sam came forward, taking the handle in her hands once more. This time, however, Freddie didn't let go when he handed it to her. Instead he stood behind her, bringing his arms around on either side and holding her hands which were clutching the pan._

"_Ok, just relax," he said when he felt her body tense up, "I'm going to help you out with this one."_

_Sam nodded, feeling hotter all of a sudden. Freddie's body pressed tightly against her, and his arms held her even closer to him as they made contact with hers. She could feel his heartbeat through her back, and it sounded fast, but she wasn't sure if it was hers instead. He leant forward and pressed his cheek against hers, gripping her hands tightly._

"_Now," he said softly, his breath tickling her warm skin, "Flip it lightly,"_

_They flipped it at the same time, and Freddie's strong grip stopped her from throwing the pancake over her head like before. The pancake rose into the air, doing a flip and coming down quickly again. Freddie squeezed her hands and they moved the pan together, the pancake landing perfectly within it._

"_Voila!" Freddie exclaimed, and Sam smiled with glee. _

"_That was so cool!" she half whispered, and Freddie let go of her hands, sliding his arms along hers as he retreated, his hands squeezing her shoulders lightly in agreement. Sam held her breath, his touch almost too much to bear. She felt the sparks between them, like she had felt hundreds of times before, but this time there was a certain amount of tension as well; as if they were both holding themselves back. Once he had moved back she turned around, the pan still clutched in her hands._

"_Thanks," she breathed, shyly meeting his eyes. Freddie smiled down at her._

"_No problem," he said, clearing his throat slightly, "Should I make you some more then?"_

"_Yeah," Sam said, snapping out of her daze._

_She handed the pan over to Freddie, and he flipped the pancake onto her plate before heading back to the stove._

"_At your service Princess," he teased again, and Sam laughed. _

Sam smiled to herself as the door to the dance studio opened and the other students began to file in, chatting casually. Carly and Spencer had arrived with a disheveled-looking Adam not long after Sam's pancake flipping lesson, and she and Freddie had promptly excused themselves in order to give them some alone time. Sam also remembered that she had a dance lesson later that evening so she declined Freddie's invitation to hang out at his place. He had looked disappointed at her refusal, but had accepted it nonetheless. So Sam ran through the light rain to the nearest bus stop, catching a ride home and walking to the community centre soon after.

"Hey!" some of the other students greeted her and she smiled back and gave a small wave. Sam was pretty much a loner at dance class, but she preferred it that way. She wasn't there to socialize – she was there to focus on her dancing and this made her top of the class.

"Hey Sam," a tall guy with sandy-coloured hair greeted her, dropping his bag and flopping down next to her.

"Hey Kyle," Sam acknowledged him, ending her stretching and crossing her legs in front of her, "What's up?"

There were about ten students in the class Sam was taking, and Kyle was the only guy stuck between nine good-looking girls. Unlike other guys who might have taken advantage of the attention he was receiving Kyle avoided the girls who were constantly flirting with him. The only girl who wasn't trying to get his attention was Sam, so naturally the two of them had paired up in order to avoid the social trap of the class.

Sam liked Kyle; they always chatted before class and he would walk her home afterwards. During class, however, they both focused solely on the lesson and their dancing, not chatting and fooling around like the other girls would. Sam wished school was as fun as dance class – there was not one lesson at school that held her attention like dance class did.

"Ugh," he groaned in response to Sam's question, "I hung around outside too long...Lauren decided it was a good time to get to know me."

He nodded over at the dark haired beauty of the class who was laughing with her group of friends and Sam followed his gaze.

"Ah," Sam understood, "Did she ask you for "private dance lessons"?" she asked, using air quotes.

"Pretty much," Kyle admitted, "Why can't they get that I'm not here to find a girlfriend. I have to get a scholarship or else I won't be able to go to college next year..."

Sam patted his shoulder reassuringly; Kyle was a senior and he really wanted to go to Juilliard in New York, but it was difficult to get accepted with only a community centre providing him with his dancing knowledge. Kyle was a brilliant hip-hop dancer, but he lacked the basics. Sam was lucky enough to have been taught these when she was younger, and she was still re-discovering them every day. She wasn't worrying about college just yet; she was only a senior next year. Freddie had already been talking about applying for all sorts of colleges and even Carly had mentioned a few that she was interested in.

"You'll get in, don't worry!" Sam assured him, "You'll be hearing from them any day now. You'll get in!"

Kyle smiled at her and squeezed the hand that she had placed on his shoulder, "Thanks Sam," he said whole-heatedly.

Their dance instructor entered the studio at that moment, clapping her hands as she made her way to the front of the class.

"Alright everyone!" she shouted out, "Let's do some warm up stretches before we get started on a new routine!"

Everyone got up off the floor and spread out in front of the mirror that the instructor was now facing. Sam and Kyle followed, Sam pulling Kyle to his feet and leading him right to the front, directly behind the instructor. She smiled at them through the mirror and gave a small wink. Sam smiled back. She generally hated teachers as a rule but this one was difficult not to like.

"'Sup?" she greeted them.

"Hey Luce," Sam greeted her. Her full name was Lucinda, but everybody called her Luce – it was cooler and it suited her better.

The class followed Luce's instructions as they breathed in and out, stretching and relaxing different parts of their body. After a few minutes of this Luce clapped her hands together once more and split them into two horizontal lines of five.

"Let me run through the new routine first," she said, turning her back on the class and facing the mirror again. She took a deep breath, clicked a button on the CD player's remote, and then launched into her routine. Sam followed her movements intently, her body aching to follow her as well. Dance had become as much a part of her as her love for meat had, and she couldn't hold back her urges; she had always been terrible at self-control. Luce ended the routine as the music faded away, and the class clapped appreciatively for her. She then ran through the moves with them a few times without music, and then with music. Sam and Kyle caught on fast, following their instructor's choreography perfectly. Soon the entire class was in sync and they were running through the routine for the final time when the door of the class opened.

Sam was focusing on herself and the rest of the class as she made sure to execute the routine perfectly, so she didn't even notice the door opening and someone coming in. Luce did though, and she smiled at the doorway, stopping midway through the routine.

"Carry on!" she shouted over the loud music, and she left to go greet whoever had entered. Sam glanced hurriedly towards the door, curious as to why Luce had broken her routine. All of a sudden she had stopped in her tracks, routine forgotten as she saw who was staring at her.

"Sam?" Kyle said in concern as he stopped dancing as well. The girl next to Kyle collided into him as she tried to execute a move and Kyle bumped forward into Sam, knocking them both over and landing on top of her.

"Ow!" Sam exclaimed as Kyle's elbow connected with her ribs.

"Sorry, sorry Sam!" Kyle apologized, lifting himself off of her and extending his hand to help her up.

"What's going on here?" Luce asked, coming towards them, the uninvited guest following in concern. Sam allowed Kyle to pull her up, her cheeks red with embarrassment. Her eyes met his for a moment, and with that brief acknowledgement she turned and ran from the studio, snatching her bag from the floor on her way out. 

"Sam!" she heard Kyle shout after her, and then another called her name just as forcefully.

"Sam, stop!" Freddie called and he followed her as she ran out into the rain

XXXXXXX

"Sam!" Freddie shouted through the open window, driving slowly alongside her as she trudged along the sidewalk, her blonde curls bobbing behind in her haste to get away.

"Leave me alone Benson!"

"Sam, I'm sorry!" Freddie shouted desperately.

"You didn't do anything wrong," she started, "J-Just go away!" Sam shouted back, her sneakers wet from the rain. Stupid Seattle weather.

"What are you upset about then?" he shouted, swerving the car a little to avoid a rubbish bin that had spilled into the road.

"Get lost Benson!"

Freddie had followed her out of the community centre, losing track of her when he reached the pouring rain outside. He had immediately run for his car, parked only a few meters away on the sidewalk, and headed in the direction of her house. He had found her walking on the sidewalk, hunched over with her backpack clutched to her chest. He had no idea that she had been taking dance lessons; when he had entered the studio he hadn't expected to see her at all. He had given the room a quick scan and had almost missed her if it wasn't for her mess of blonde curls. He had focused intently on the girl who looked so much like Sam, admiring the way she moved and her clear superiority over the others. Just before he turned away the girl glanced over at him, stopping him in his tracks. She did the same, her face going pale as her eyes widened with surprise and fear. He saw her fall as the other dancers knocked into her and he rushed over, following the instructor who was distracted by the noise. She had run from him and he couldn't understand why.

"Sam! Please, just get into the car!" he pleaded. She was soaked, but she continued marching in the direction of her house, not even looking at him.

"Please!" he pleaded once more, and he saw her stop and shiver slightly. He hit the brakes, pulling the car onto the sidewalk. He threw open his door and dove into the rain, running around the car and grabbing Sam by the elbow. "Please Sam," he asked, pulling her gently towards him. She was freezing cold, and she allowed him to pull her gently into his arms as he hugged her close. Their embrace lasted a few seconds before Sam pushed herself away again, looking up at him with an unreadable expression.

"No!" she resisted, backing away from him, "You can't keep doing this to me!"

Freddie stared at her in surprise, his hand still holding onto her elbow as she turned her face away from him.

Everything they had said to each other and every turning point in her and Freddie's relationship was rushing through her mind as she tried to get out of Freddie's grasp. She couldn't do it anymore; she hated him for making her love him so much and not being able to return the feelings. She was exhausted, fed up and she no longer had the strength to fight against her feelings any longer. Every day spent with him brought her closer to telling him of her feelings. Every day she loved him more, but with that love her hate of him increased as well. Her dancing was the only way she was able to express what she truly felt inside – she poured every inch of her soul into it, and now Freddie had discovered it.

"Sam, what-" Freddie started, but she cut him off.

"You can't keep coming to my rescue," she continued, "You can't keep making me feel this way!" she blurted out.

Freddie said nothing. He just stared at her, confused about what she was saying.

"Sam, I..." he started, but fell silent once more. Sam took a deep breath, the shivers running through her body, trying to stop the tears from spilling over.

"You..." she heard Freddie start, "You told me, a long time ago that I was pathetic. You told me you couldn't forgive me for that...I was never sure exactly what you meant by it."

Sam looked up at him in confusion now.

"What are you...?" she inquired.

"You were upset about me running after Carly all the time," Freddie continued, "But it still doesn't explain what you couldn't forgive me for. I want you to tell me Sam."

Sam swallowed, her sopping hair blowing into her face as she tried to come up with an answer. She felt Freddie pull her closer again, and she took relief in the comfort of his still warm body.

"Tell me Sam," Freddie insisted, "This time I'm not letting you go anywhere."

Sam remembered the last time they had stood in the rain like this almost three years ago and how badly it had ended.

"I..." Sam started, "Didn't like how you chased after Carly..." she admitted.

"Yes," Freddie nodded, warming her up, "And?"

"And I was..." she trailed off, unable to say it.

"Jealous?" Freddie offered and Sam almost scoffed as she usually did. She pulled away a little but he only held on tighter.

"Yeah," Sam finally said, "And that's why I couldn't forgive you."

"For liking Carly?" he asked.

"No!" Sam said in irritation, "Well, yes, but no!"

Freddie smiled down at her, "That makes no sense," he muttered.

"Yes it does!" Sam said in irritation, managing to pull away from him.

"Then what is it you can't forgive me for?" he asked forcefully, taking a step towards her as she backed off. She said nothing, but turned around instead, trying to run again.

"No Sam!" Freddie shouted grabbing her arm again, "I'm not letting you get away! What is it? Was it because I called you names? Was it because I liked Carly more than you?"

"Stop it!" she shouted, trying to pull out of his grasp.

"Tell me Sam! What can't you forgive me for?" he shouted.

"For making me love you!" she finally shouted, finally pulling out of his grasp. She stumbled forward and landed on her knees in a puddle on the sidewalk. A clap of thunder sounded above them, accompanied by a flash of lightning.

Freddie walked over to Sam, kneeling down alongside her as she remained in the puddle, her hair falling in curtains over her face.

"Do you...love me Sam?" Freddie asked in disbelief. Sam remained silent, so he leant in closer, lifting a strand of her hair from her face, "Sam?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you Frednub?" she said bitingly, and he recoiled automatically. He took a breath and leant in again so that his mouth was an inch away from her ear.

"It's alright..." he whispered, and he felt her jerk a little as his warmth breath tickled her ear, "Because I love you Sam..."

With that he leant back and stood up, watching for her reaction. She looked up at him slowly, her eyes wide with surprise.

"No chizz?" she mouthed, and he laughed lightly at her.

"No chizz," he assured her, and held his hand out to her, "Now get in the car and let's get you home. We need to talk."

XXXXXXXXX

_Did you LOVE it? How will I know unless you REVIEW? Show me some love TOO! ^.^_


	14. Chapter 14: Finally

_A new chapter? Already? Yup! ^.^ What can I say...the seaside inspires me! Enjoy! And please show me some love for updating so soon with TONS of reviews! =P_

**Chapter Fourteen**

Finally

"How long?" Freddie asked Sam once they were on the move again. He had gotten her into the car and immediately turned up the heat. His seat had rained wet while he and Sam were conversing in the rain, but it didn't matter because he was soaked as well.

"Hmm?" Sam mumbled, shivering slightly as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"Oh, here," Freddie reached into the backseat and picked up a jacket of his, and handed it to her, "Put this around you. It should help."

"Thanks," Sam said, taking the jacket gratefully. She was still dressed in her dance clothes – a comfortable pair of loose-fitting pants and a tank top. She had grabbed her bag and jacket on her way out of the studio, but she was in such a rush that she didn't even think to put it on. She wrapped the jacket around her and smiled at him.

"How long for you?" she asked and Freddie frowned at her.

"I asked first," he protested.

"Too bad!" she replied, sticking her tongue out at him. Freddie laughed and focused on the road again.

"It was kind of on and off," he started, "I started thinking of you in that way after our kiss on the fire escape, but I guess I always kinds liked you before then. Besides all the beatings and insults and stuff we did get along pretty well," he looked over at her to find her smiling, "I thought of making it work, but I was never sure whether you felt the same way. I kind of gave up hope after our...fight long ago. And then the thing with Carly happened..." he trailed off.

"And you forgot about me?" Sam offered.

"Not entirely," Freddie defended himself, "But I had been infatuated with Carly for a long time, so yeah...it took me a while to get over what happened between us, but once I did I remembered that you were the one who saved me from having my heart broken." He smiled over at her again, "And then it was kind of impossible to forget about you. I've wanted to tell you for ages, but I always thought you'd laugh it off or wouldn't feel the same way. And then this afternoon happened...I could just _feel_ it, you know?"

Sam nodded; the heater and the jacket had finally brought her shivering to an end, so she felt a lot more comfortable talking now.

"I know," she agreed, smiling at him as he met her eyes. They turned into her driveway and Freddie pulled up the handbrake, making sure the car stayed put. They sat in silence for a few seconds, listening to the sound of the rain on the car roof.

"So how long has it been for you?" Freddie asked her and she smiled mischievously at him.

"Longer than it has for you," she teased, opening the car door and letting herself out. She ran through the rain to her front door, Freddie close behind her.

"How much longer?" Freddie shouted over the rain and she giggled in a way she had never done before. She was filled with so much happiness all of a sudden that she was unable to contain it.

"Guess!" she answered, reaching her front door and digging in her backpack for her keys. Freddie caught up with her, pinning her back to the door and holding her arms. She dropped the backpack and stared up at him.

"A year before our kiss?" he asked and Sam shook her head.

"Two years?" he guessed again and Sam shook her head again.

His chest rumbled with silent laughter as he leaned in closer to her, their foreheads touching. Sam liked this new, forceful Freddie.

"Three years?" he guessed once more. Sam shook her head again and his chest continued to rumble. Before she could stop him he had leant in and kissed her, his hands letting go of her arms and tangling themselves in her wet hair instead. She wrapped her arms around his neck, allowing herself to get lost in his embrace. She had longed for this for so many years, and now that it was finally happening it seemed unreal. Freddie moved even closer to her, pressing her firmly against the door as their kiss grew more intense. This was so different from their first kiss – Freddie had more experience from kissing Carly so he knew what he was doing and Sam liked that he was leading her, teaching her how he liked to be kissed. They pulled away after a few minutes, both out of breath.

"Since the day I met you," Sam breathed out, looking up into Freddie's eyes, "I've felt this way for ages. It got stronger after we kissed...I know it sounds stupid, but-"

Freddie leaned forward again, kissing her lightly to silence her.

"It's not stupid," he said, "I'm just sorry I didn't catch on sooner."

Sam smiled and gave him a quick peck before picking up her backpack and digging for her keys again.

"Let's get inside before we freeze again," she said, finding the keys and unlocking the door. It looked like her mom was out again.

'_Thank goodness!'_ Sam thought in relief, worried about how her mom might have reacted if she'd seen her kissing Freddie on their doorstep. She switched on the various lights in the house as they entered.

"We should take a shower," Sam said, dropping her bag at the foot of the stairs. She turned around to find Freddie with a surprised expression on his face and she spluttered over her words.

"I don't mean together!" she half-shouted, blushing profusely, "You can shower in my bathroom. I'll go to my moms."

Freddie nodded and followed her up the stairs. Sam took two towels out from the hall cupboard, handing one to Freddie.

"Um..." she muttered, "I don't know what to do about some dry clothes for you..." she mumbled.

Freddie shrugged, "It's ok, I'll just..."

"No," Sam interrupted him, "I have a big shirt for you – I sleep in it mostly but it is clean, and dry. I'll see if I can find you a big pair of pants too..."

Sam disappeared into her bedroom, emerging soon after with a baggy red T-shirt with yellow print on it that read "Choc-chip cookies". She threw it over to Freddie who was waiting obediently in the hall. She then went into her mom's room and took a bit longer. While she was rummaging in there Freddie admired some of the pictures on the walls. Now that he knew Melanie was real he was able to easily tell the difference between Sam and her twin sister. Sam smiled widely for the pictures, her hair a mess in almost every one while Melanie seemed more reserved, her hair tied back in a tight ponytail as she smiled shyly.

Sam emerged once more with a pair of khaki pants in her hand and a disgusted look on her face.

"My mom wore these in her chubby days," she explained, "It has adjustable elastic so it should fit you no problem. You do NOT want to know where I found this..." she added with a shiver.

"Thanks," Freddie said, smiling. Sam blushed a little and pointed him to the bathroom.

"You can shower in there," she pointed, "I'll be in my mom's bathroom."

"Ok," Freddie said, smiling slyly at her as she turned slowly towards her mom's room, "Hey!" he protested and Sam grinned before skipping towards him and giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"No..." he whined, pulling her closer and kissing her more firmly. Sam smiled beneath his lips and wrapped her one arm around his neck as her other hand clutched her towel and dry clothes. When they broke apart they were both smiling widely at each other.

"See you soon!" Sam sang as she skipped towards her mother's bedroom, Freddie watching her all the way.

XXXXXX

Sam was coming down the stairs, her wet curls hanging in rose scented strands along her back when she heard her phone ringing. Her backpack was still abandoned at the foot of the stairs, so she rushed down and zipped it open, snatching her cell phone from an inner pocket and pressing it to her ear.

"Hello?" she answered the phone.

"Sam!" Melanie's voice sounded frantic on the other end, "Sam, are you okay?"

"Yeah, sure, what's up Mel's?" she asked in confusion.

"Oh, Sam, I did a very bad thing! I'm so sorry!" Melanie wailed, "I hope you're not angry, please don't be angry with me!"

"Mel's, what are you talking about?" Sam asked, shaking her head. Her sister could really be a drama queen sometimes.

"I told Freddie, Sam!" Melanie shouted, "I told him your secret and I swear I didn't mean to, but he was worried and then I got worried and-"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Sam stopped her sister forcefully, "What did you tell Freddie? Start at the beginning."

"Well, Freddie called me earlier on, saying that he couldn't find you. He said he'd been to your house and you weren't at Carly's either, so he was worried whether you had gotten home alright or not. So he asked me if I knew where you might be. So, I didn't know what else to tell him! I told him that you might be at the Community Centre, but I didn't tell him why, just that you might be there. I was worried as well – I didn't know whether you were hurt or something either so I thought it best to check out everywhere where you might be. I'm sorry Sam!" Melanie seemed out of breath as she completed her rant, waiting for her sister to say something.

"It's okay," Sam said quietly as she heard the bathroom door open upstairs. It seemed Freddie was done showering, "Don't worry Melanie, I'm fine so there's no need to worry."

"But did he find you Sam?" Melanie asked, "Did he find out about your dance lessons?"

"Yes..." Sam said uncertainly.

"Oh, Sam I'm sorry!" Melanie wailed once more, "I know that you wanted to keep it a secret, but-"

"Mel!" Sam said sternly, shutting her sister up, "It's okay! Things are better than okay...I'll call you tonight to give you the full details, but...uh...it seems like Freddie feels the same way."

Sam was met with silence on the other end of the line. She knew that it wouldn't last for long though, so she said goodbye as quickly as she could.

"Call you later Mel's, bye!" she said, snapping her phone closed. Just before she ended the call she heard her sister shouting with glee and excitement "YES!"

Sam shut her phone and shook her head, laughing inwardly at her sister. She was nuts, but she loved her.

"What was that about?" Freddie asked curiously from behind Sam and she turned to look at him. One glance at him and Sam burst out laughing. He looked so mismatched and completely un-sexy in her sleeping shirt and her mother's pants that she was rolling on the floor in an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

"What's so funny?" Freddie asked, pulling at the baggy shirt.

"You!" Sam shouted, wiping tears from her eyes, "You look ridiculous!"

"Come on...I think it suits me, don't you?" he joked, striking a little pose as Sam continued to roll on the floor. Freddie began to laugh as well, taking a seat on the stairs as he struggled to contain his joy. Their laughter faded away in silence as Sam continued to lie on the floor and Freddie cupped his chin in one hand, admiring her from his position.

"Are you happy?" he asked, smiling.

"Yes," Sam answered immediately, "Are you happy?"

"You have no idea how much," Freddie answered. He stood up and extended his hand out to her, pulling her up from the floor and into his arms.

"I love you Sam," he said for the second time that day.

"I love you Freddie," Sam said for the very first time in her life. They remained in each other's arms for a few more seconds before pulling away.

"I'll stick your clothes in the dryer," Sam said, "Will you make some coffee or something?"

"Sure," Freddie agreed, making his way to the kitchen.

Sam retrieved Freddie's wet clothes from the bathroom along with hers and put them both in the dryer while Freddie prepared some coffee for them. Sam joined him in the kitchen after she was done, leaning on the counter and chatting to him while he stirred the contents of their cups.

"So," she started, feeling a little awkward, "What do we do now?"

"Now?" Freddie asked over his shoulder, putting the spoon down and picking up their cups, "What do you mean?"

"You know," Sam said in a sing song voice, scuffing her feet on the tiles, "Are we, like, going to date or something?"

Freddie chuckled and handed her cup to her. Sam took it gratefully and put it immediately to her lips. Freddie always made the best coffee – it was even better than his pancakes. She took a sip, ignoring the slight burn it gave her tongue and sighed in appreciation. Freddie watched her from over his cup, already taking a sip of his own.

"Well?" Sam asked once she had recovered from her mild tongue burning.

"Well, I could be your boyfriend...if you wanted me to?" Freddie replied, winking at her. Sam smiled.

"Even though I'd hate to date a nub," Sam teased, "I'd like that very much..."

Freddie smiled at her briefly before his face fell into a frown.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked.

"We can't tell anyone..." Freddie said quietly, making Sam's heart fall, "At least not yet."

"Oh..." Sam muttered, "Don't you want people to know about us?" she asked, heartbroken at the mere thought.

"No, I don't mean it like that!" Freddie said, moving closer and wrapping his one arm around her waist, "I can't wait to tell everyone and show them how lucky I am to have you to myself!"

"Then why...?"

Freddie hesitated before answering, choosing his words wisely before speaking.

"I...I don't want everyone to see you as the next Carly," he finally answered, "I don't want this to end in a week because everyone is whispering behind our backs. I don't want people to see me as this guy who dates his best friends and leaves them after a week once I've gotten what I wanted. There are rumours like that circulating around the school, as well as the internet, and I don't want that to affect us in any way,"

Sam listened intently, surprised at the passion Freddie put behind his words. He must really have felt strongly about this.

"I want you Sam, and I want this to last," he continued, "And that's not going to happen when people are constantly waiting for us to fall apart. I want to focus on just you and me – no one else."

He took her cup from her hands and placed them both on the counter, taking her hands in his and pulling her closer.

"I love you Sam – this isn't some school boy crush that is going to blow over. I don't want to lose you. So let's wait...we'll tell people about us when they're ready to find out about it - when nothing stands in our way of being together."

Sam looked up at him, nodding slowly in agreement. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled them into a hug, her head pressed firmly against his chest.

"I don't want to lose you either," she whispered, squeezing him closer.

XXXXXXX

"_Leave the hat!" Carly instructed him as he left the room, ignoring Adam for a split second._

"_No, I need it!" he shouted back, running from the room in a comical manner with his arms splayed out behind him. Carly had politely kicked him out of her bedroom when Adam had requested a video chat with her. Freddie had left without argument – Adam didn't seem like too bad of a guy for Carly, but he still couldn't help the slight brotherly instinct he had over her. He re-adjusted his captain's hat and headed down the stairs two at a time, on his way to find Sam._

Sam had constantly been in his thoughts for a long time now – he just couldn't get enough of her. He had finally admitted to himself that he was over his infatuation for Carly. He loved her like a sister, and always would; romantic thoughts involving her seemed highly inappropriate now. After he had shifted his gaze from Carly he had begun to open himself up to other girls. He had started with girls online where he was most comfortable; girls at school had almost no interest in him – they knew him as Carly and Sam's friend, and the guy who saved Carly's life before "breaking her heart".

Online flirting didn't work out too well for him – one girl was too tall for him. She was nice and she was pretty, but he struggled to feel comfortable around her because he was always conscious of their height difference. Another was simply gorgeous, but Freddie struggled to get more than two words out of her when conversing face to face. Online she wasn't much different. Freddie gave up on meeting girls online and decided to focus on meeting someone in person instead; this was when he had begun to rediscover his feelings for Sam.

_He reached the bottom of the staircase, passing Spencer who was on his way up with a large block of cheese. His eyes immediately strayed towards the fridge where Sam's blonde curls could be seen examining its contents. He smiled and quietly made his way towards her – he meant it when he told Carly he needed the hat._

"_Ahoy lassie!" he greeted her in his best impression of a pirate, and she spun around in surprise, an open packet of bacon clasped in her hands. Her fist immediately flew out, as Freddie had expected, and he stopped it with his arm, grinning widely._

"_Benson!" she said in surprise, dropping her fist and leaning back on the fridge, "What was that all about?"_

"_Ah, just felt like showing off my hat to the best of my ability," he teased, still grinning. His grin faded as he saw Sam take a sliver of bacon from the packet and put it to her mouth._

"_You're seriously not planning on eating that raw, are you?" he asked in disbelief. Sam shrugged in response._

"_It takes effort to cook it," she said roughly, lifting the slice to her mouth once more. Freddie snatched it from her fingers, backing away quickly._

"_Hey!" she protested, reaching for it as he waved it over his head._

"_It'll make you sick Sam!" he scolded her lightly, "Come on, I'll cook it for you..."_

_Her eyes brightened at his offer and she handed him the packet._

"_Please and thank you!" she said, skipping towards the couch. Freddie shook his head – how much did he bet that she had waited for either him or Carly to come down and offer to cook it for her?_

"_Where's Carly?" Sam asked, flopping down on the couch and picking up the remote._

"_Video chatting with Adam upstairs," Freddie said, taking out a pan and emptying the packet of bacon into it, "I was kicked out, of course."_

"_Aw, no body wuvs da wittle Fweddie..." Sam sang mockingly, clasping her hands at her cheeks and pursing her lips at him._

_Freddie eyed her evilly before letting out a breath of laughter at her expression, "You will once this bacon's ready," he stated, allowing the pieces to sizzle in the pan. He made his way over to her as he waited for the meat to cook perfectly._

Freddie stopped following Carly's every move, allowing him to spend more time alone with Sam. It reminded him of the old days when he and Sam were partners in crime while Carly played headquarters. Even though Sam caused him pain, insulted him and portrayed some of the most un-ladylike behaviour imaginable something about her drew him to her. He liked girls in skirts who cared about their appearance and always smelled nice. That was what attracted him to Carly in the first place. What he had been blind to before was the fact that Sam wasn't the most disgusting person alive.

She wasn't the girly type who wore skirts and make up every day, but she did always smell nice. Her shampoo smelt of roses and Freddie always caught a whiff of it when she pinned him to the floor or tackled him in some way. She was always dressed decently as well, even though he had never seen her in a dress before. She owned a knee-length denim skirt that she occasionally wore, but even this was worn with leggings underneath. And she was pretty in her own way – she wasn't as bold a beauty as Carly was, but she had a natural, bubbly glow about her that made her shine out from other people. She was, as Freddie had described, a Princess in his eyes. 

"_Hey...Freddie?" Sam said quietly, diverting Freddie's attention from the television screen._

"_Yeah?" he answered her._

"_Are you jealous that Carly likes Adam?" she asked. Freddie remained quiet, reading her expression. Her eyes were still fixed on the T.V, and she asked him in such a casual manner that it was impossible to tell what she was thinking. She got like this a lot lately – she would drop her biting tone and talk to him sincerely once in a while. As soon as someone else was in the room, however, she went right back to insulting him and pretending that he was unimportant – a friend, yes, but one that she only tolerated._

"_Not jealous," he answered, "More like...protective. I want to make sure she finds a guy that she can be happy with."_

"_Oh..." Sam said, shrugging her shoulders. Her eyes strayed from the screen and met his, making him melt for a few seconds before she looked away again._

"_Did you and Carly ever talk about...you know...getting back together? We don't talk about it...it's kind of an awkward thing to discuss."_

"_No," Freddie admitted, "We never officially ended it, nor did we say we'd wait or anything. She just...went her way and I went mine I guess."_

"_Do you still want to date her?" she asked quietly. Freddie's eyes never left her face. He was searching for any clue to the feelings she hid behind the mask she was wearing around almost everyone. Four years ago he couldn't imagine himself falling in love with Sam, but he couldn't deny the chemistry he felt between them. No one knew him like Sam did, and he wanted to know everything about her. Sure, she was a constant source of frustration for him, and he was 99% certain that she felt nothing but friendship for him, but he had to take a chance._

"_No," he answered after a long stretch of silence, the sound of bacon sizzling in the background, "I want her to be happy, and I don't think it'll be with me."_

_Sam nodded curtly, indicating that she understood. Her eyes met his once more and he smiled at her. She returned it briefly before turning away once more, and he gulped, preparing to say what was on his mind._

"_Sam, I think I-"_

"_Yeah, I think the bacon's ready too," Sam interrupted him, getting to her feet, "Don't mind if I do Captain!"_

_She strode past him, flicking his hat up as she passed. He swallowed his words and stared after her, watching how she tipped the bacon onto a plate and made her way back to the couch._

"_Help!" they both heard Carly's scream come from upstairs followed by quick footsteps, "Spencer's attacking me!"_

"_I'll go save her..." Freddie sighed, getting up and running up the stairs to his friends rescue._

"_Just like you always will..." Sam said to herself once he had left the room._

XXXXXXX

"Hey," Sam muttered sleepily, her head resting on Freddie's chest. They were seated on the couch in her living room, their empty coffee cups set on the little coffee table. It was dark outside; they had spent the last hour talking about how to hide their relationship from others as well as everything they had been hiding from each other concerning their feelings. Freddie was back in his own clothes after they had finished drying and Sam was enjoying being engulfed by his usual smell – freshly washed laundry and a hint of intoxicating cologne.

"I forgot to ask you earlier," she continued, "Melanie called and said you were looking for me earlier. Why?"

Freddie chuckled, his chest rumbling in the way that Sam loved.

"You'd think me a romantic fool," he laughed, "But I wanted to tell you...how I really felt. I didn't care whether you'd feel the same or not. I had to tell you. I had a hunch that you did though," he teased, poking her ribs a little.

"You did?" Sam asked in surprise, "I thought you were too fixated on Carly to notice _anything_!"

"Neh..." he responded, sticking his tongue out at her.

"Neh," she did the same.

"Aw Sam, you're in love with me, just say so," he teased, remembering when he had said the same thing to her in a web show a few years ago.

"I'm in love with you," Sam whispered, lifting her head and giving him a peck.

"Awesome," Freddie sighed, a big, goofy smile on his face.

They lay down together in silence for a few more minutes, simply absorbing the moment. A galnce outside the windows reminded Sam how late it really was and she sighed.

"It's getting late..." she sighed, sitting up, "I don't want you getting in trouble with your psycho mom."

Freddie groaned.

"I don't wanna..." he moaned, pulling Sam down again and wrapping his arms around her.

"Benson!" she exclaimed in disapproval, laughing slightly.

He lifted her face up and kissed her again, a soft, but deep kiss, pulling her further into his lap. She pulled away after a minute, slapping his hands away.

"Come on Romeo, time to go!" she shooed him off the couch, "Momma's tired and hungry!"

"Ha ha, so that's what this is about!" he joked, allowing Sam to push him out of the room.

"Maybe a little," she answered, reaching the front door, "Goodnight Freddie..."

She smiled up at him and pulled him into a tight hug, "Don't be surprised if I'm extra mean to you tomorrow in order to hide our love..." she ended in a dramatic tone, making him laugh again.

"Goodnight Princess..." he mumbled, kissing her forehead.

He opened the front door and let himself out, waving goodbye as he strode to his car. Sam stood in the doorway, arms folded, watching him leave and drive off into the night. She shook her head and re-entered the house, closing and locking the door behind her.

"Who would've thought...?" she said to the empty house before running forward and leaping onto the couch in a fit of pure joy. She squealed and jumped on the pillows, shouting and cheering for her unexpected victory. She then plopped down and took out her cell phone, immediately dialing her sister's number.

"Mel's!" she exclaimed once her sister had answered, "You are going to DIE when you hear this..."

XXXXXXX

_I 3 Seddie Love! If you do too then please review!_


	15. Chapter 15: The Secret Date

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and have been constantly reviewing since the beginning! I love all of you! I know this chapter is long overdue, and I hope you enjoy it!_

_IMPORTANT NEWS: I am going to be ending this particular story soon and will be turning it into a sequel very soon. Please hang around! In the sequel I will be planning on being a lot more interactive with my reviewers, so look forward to it! ;) _

_Thanks for reading and please review!_

_Love_

_IamMuchan_

_P.S Don't forget to follow me on Twitter at Nix_Heyns and I'm on YouTube (IamMuchan7) too! Hugs!_

**Chapter Fifteen**

The Secret Date

Monday morning couldn't have arrived any sooner for Sam; Freddie had been punished by his mother for arriving home so late without letting her know where he was. His punishment was house arrest for the day, and Sam had never experienced such biting frustration in her life before. She had gone to spend the day with Carly, of course, hanging out and watching movies. The knowledge that Freddie was only a few feet away, but completely forbidden to her put Sam in a foul mood. For the first time she understood what it felt like to pine for someone and to mope as a result of the unfulfilled wish to see them. It didn't help that Spencer was also moping around the house – Adam had asked Carly out on a date, and Spencer didn't like it one bit. He liked Adam better than he had Griffin at least, but just the thought of Carly kissing him drove his brotherly instincts insane.

"Why do you have to go out tonight?" Spencer whined from the kitchen while Carly and Sam were occupying the couch.

"Because_ you _said I'm not allowed out with Adam on school nights, so our first date will have to be tonight then, won't it?" Carly sighed, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"But it's a Sunday!" Spencer argued, "It is a school night!"

"Technically it isn't," Carly argued back, "Because you forgot that our school is having a long weekend break this week, so I only have to go to school on Tuesday again."

"Yes, but!" Spencer whined again and Carly silenced him by holding up her finger.

"Uh-uh!" she said smugly, "You know I'm right, so don't argue."

Spencer puffed out his cheeks and stalked out of the room, making his way to his bedroom and shutting the door loudly. Carly sighed again before a small laugh escaped her form, and she turned to Sam with sparkling eyes.

"I can't believe that Adam still asked me out after everything that happened yesterday!" she said excitedly, and Sam nodded in agreement.

"The guy must really like you Carl's," she encouraged her, "There aren't a lot of guys out there who would take a beating like he did for a girl."

She smiled to herself, realizing that Freddie had put up with beatings from her for years, and still he had fallen in love with her.

"Yeah," Carly sighed to herself, leaning back into the couch, "I can't wait to see where he takes me tonight. It'll be our first date! And first dates are important! I already know what I'm going to wear and everything..."

Carly continued rambling on about her outfit and what she thought Adam would surprise her with while Sam listened half-heartedly. She felt her cell phone buzz in her pocket and she took it out discretely, glancing at the text message from Freddie.

'_Miss you...' _it read, and she smiled, texting him back quickly: _'Missing u 2...at C's now.' _

Freddie's reply came a few seconds later: _'So close yet so far...'_

'_No chizz' _she replied, smiling again.

"Sam?" Carly interrupted her moment, "Who do you keep texting?"

"Um..." Sam thought of a quick excuse, "Melanie, she needs help with...uh, some stuff."

"Oh," Carly said, holding out her hand for her phone, "Anything I can help with."

"No!" Sam said quickly, pulling her phone out of Carly's grasp as it vibrated in her palm once more; Freddie was still texting her.

"Ok..." Carly said, a little surprised by Sam's reaction.

"Anyway," Sam said loudly, trying to cover up for her behaviour, "Why is the first date so important anyway?"

"Because the future of the relationship depends on how it turns out!" Carly said enthusiastically, "If the date goes terribly then there might not be a second one. As a girl it's your duty to make sure you look breathtaking and it's his duty to choose the setting."

Sam nodded her head, turning her eyes away to look at the message on her phone. Her heart skipped a beat at what she read there, and she snapped her attention back to Carly, taking in every word.

"...and then he has to walk you home. They say it's not proper to kiss on the first date, but I think that if it goes well then it should be alright."

"Carl's," Sam interrupted her, "Can I see your outfit?"

"S-sure..." Carly stammered at her question, "Why?"

"I'm just curious as to what a girl would wear on a first date..." Sam said, her cheeks feeling hot, "I would never know what to wear if I ever went on one."

"Oh, Sam," Carly jumped up, clapping her hands together, "I know_ exactly _what you should wear on a first date one day! Come on, I'll show you!"

With that Carly grabbed Sam's hand and pulled her up off the couch, leading her to the staircase and up to her room, just as Sam had expected her too.

She glanced at her phone once more before tucking it into her pocket for safe keeping again, the message from Freddie still blinking brightly in her mind.

'_Want to go on a date tomorrow night?'_

XXXXXXX

'_Yes!'_

'_Great! Where do you want to go?"_

'_U choose'_

'_K! Pick you up at 7pm?'_

'_Soundz Gr8!'_

'_Awesome! Sweet dreams Princess...'_

Sam sighed and leant back into her pillows, exhausted after her trying afternoon. Carly had dressed Sam up in many variations of outfits, commenting on each one and what impression it would give on a first date. Many of them involved skirts or dresses and Sam had detested putting them on, but she had no idea what to wear on her date with Freddie the next night. Carly was under the impression that Sam was showing her support of her and Adam's first date by allowing Carly to mix and match outfits with her, and Sam planned on keeping it that way.

Every outfit had some aspect that Sam hated; the neckline was too low, the skirt was too short, the heels were too high – the list wet on. After two hours of trying on clothes and modeling them for Carly, Sam finally found one that she liked. Carly had described the look as _'a girl who is fun-loving and ready for anything her date might throw at her'_, and Sam agreed with her. The outfit was now neatly folded in the corner of her room – she had packed it into her backpack as quickly as she could while Carly had taken a shower in preparation for her date.

Carly had politely kicked Sam out of the apartment half an hour before Adam was supposed to pick her up. Sam didn't mind – she didn't want to wait around to see Carly bat her eyelashes at Adam – she was lovesick enough as it was.

As Carly closed the door on her she looked over at Freddie's doorway, wondering whether he was looking out of his peephole. She pulled out her phone, planning on texting him when it vibrated in her palm.

'_I see you..._' it read and she smiled up at his doorway, waving slightly.

"Stalker!" she mouthed, sticking out her tongue and waving goodbye, heading down the stairway to the main lobby. Her phone buzzed again on her way down.

'_So? Date? Tomorrow? Yes? No?'_

Sam snapped her phone shut with a chuckle. She'd make him sweat a bit and reply once she got home. She patted her backpack affectionately – Freddie had no idea what was waiting for him.

XXXXXXX

Melanie's phone rang just as she started running herself a long bath. Her roommate was out with some friends for the evening so she planned on using the empty bathroom to her advantage. She had tipped a large amount of bubble bath mixture under the running water and couldn't wait to soak in the foam.

"Hey Sam," she answered when she recognized the number.

"Mel's...um, I need your help with something..." Sam responded in embarrassment.

"Hmm?" Melanie mumbled in agreement, perching herself on the edge of the bath and running her hand through the warm water, "How can I be of service?"

"Do you have some extra make-up lying around the house or something? I don't want to use Mom's... all she has is blue eye shadow and some really trampy-looking lipstick." Sam asked quietly.

"Uh...sure," Melanie answered uncertainly, "Go check in the bottom drawer of my dresser in my room. I think I left some of my old lipsticks and eye shadow's there."

"Thanks," Sam said gratefully.

"What's the occasion?" Melanie asked in the sing-song voice she adopted when curious.

"It's, um...well...Freddie and I are having our first date tonight..."

Melanie almost fell over backwards into her bath.

"What! So soon?" she shouted, standing up and heading into the bedroom instead, "What time is he picking you up?"

"In an hour..." Sam responded.

"Okay, and have you showered already?" Melanie asked.

"No..."

"Sam!" she shouted, "It can't take you just an hour to get ready for a date! Go shower, now!"

"Okay!" Sam said in agitation, "Why does everyone make such a big deal out of this?"

"Because it _is_ a big deal Sam!" Melanie insisted, "Wait...Oh my god, what are you going to wear?"

"I have an outfit..."

"Explain it to me," Melanie ordered, "No, wait, go shower first and then call me. You have to make sure you look perfect. Freddie shouldn't want to take his eyes off you!"

"But," Sam said in defeat, "I don't know how to do that Mel's..."

"Aw, Sammy," Melanie comforted her sister, "That's what you have me for! Trust me, I might be on the other side of the planet, but I'm always here to help."

"How can you help me with this while you're there?" Sam pointed out.

"You underestimate your sister's capabilities," Melanie said slyly, "Call me back when you're done showering and I'll make sure you look gorgeous for Freddie tonight."

"Ok, call you in a bit," Sam said.

"Be sure to shampoo and condition!" Melanie shouted as Sam put the phone down in her ear. She snapped her phone shut and threw it onto her bed, turning around to find her bathwater beginning to overflow.

"Shoot!" she exclaimed, running forward and turning the taps closed, "Guess the bath will have to wait..."

XXXXXXX

Freddie sat in his car, tapping his hands on the steering wheel. His nerves had gotten the better of him – he was outside her house, it was a beautiful night and he had the perfect date planned...but he was too nervous to simply get out of his car and walk to her front door. Carly had been on her first date with Adam last night and she had described it as magical – she had spent the morning telling him all about it when he had escaped his temporary house arrest. He wasn't nervous for his date with Sam until he had heard Carly's explanation of what a first date should be. It seemed there was a lot of pressure put on the guy to plan a perfect evening, and Freddie was uncertain whether he could pull it off.

The girls had it easy – all they had to do was make sure they looked pretty and were ready on time while the guys sat with the task of impressing them. Freddie knew that Sam wouldn't be expecting red roses and candlelight, but he did want her to have fun and spoil her in whatever manner he could. Freddie sighed and opened his door, his hands shaking.

'_It'll be alright,_' he thought to himself, walking over the lawn and reaching the front door,_ 'It doesn't matter whether I impress Sam or not. She loved me before I started trying to impress her after all..."_

He rang the doorbell and waited, his heart racing. He heard footsteps on the other side of the door and he smoothed the creases in his shirt in anticipation. The doorknob turned and the door creaked open slowly. He took a deep breath and let it out, putting a smile on his face.

"Freddie?" Pam Puckett said in surprise, seeing her daughters friend standing there with a wide smile, almost as if he was about to try and sell her something, "What do you want?"

"Oh...I..." Freddie trailed off, failing to come up with an excuse. He couldn't say that he was there to pick Sam up – they were supposed to be keeping their relationship a secret. The last person who needed to know was Sam's mom, "I, uh, I..."

"Weren't you kids going to rehearse some iCarly stuff tonight?" she asked, and he stammered some more.

"Uh, yeah...I, no...I..."

"Sam left a few minutes ago, said she was on her way to Carly's if you're looking for her," she said, closing the door slightly, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah..." Freddie managed to say, "I'm fine, just...confused..."

"Trust me, you're not alone kid," Sam's mom muttered, "I thought Melanie was home for a second when I saw Sam leaving. Anyway..." she mumbled to herself, closing the door in his face.

Freddie turned around, heading for his car again. Sam had left a few minutes ago for Carly's? Did she forget about their date?

"Psst!" he heard someone hiss and he paused, looking around for where it came from, "Over here Frednub!"

He looked towards his car to find Sam's face poking out from behind it, an anxious expression on her face.

"Sam!" he said in surprise, "What are you...?"

"Well, I couldn't let my mom think you were picking me up for a date, now could I?" Sam explained, straightening up and stepping out from behind his car. She stepped into the light of the streetlamp and he saw her properly for the first time. He caught his breath. She was dressed in a tight pair of jeans which hugged her form nicely, accompanied by black pumps which had small jewels worked into the fabric. He recognized her top as one of Carly's, but it looked different on her. She was more developed than Carly, so the top hugged her firmly on top before falling down and ending below her pants line. She wore a black belt below her bust and the neckline curved gently down, allowing for some chest exposure but not too much.

But it wasn't the outfit that caught Freddie's attention the most – it was her face. Her hair had curled like it normally did, but she had pulled it to the side and was wearing it in an elegant twist at her neck, allowing the curls to fall over one shoulder. She wore small jewel earrings that matched her shoes and belt, and she had make-up on. It wasn't over done as he saw on most girls, but she had applied mascara and a hint of eye shadow to bring out her eyes and was wearing a natural shade of lip gloss.

"Wow..." Freddie breathed out, admiring her from top to bottom. Sam looked up at him from under her lashes, pulling at her top a little.

"What?" she asked shyly.

"You look...just...wow..." Freddie said, unable to find words, "You look...gorgeous Sam."

Sam smiled at him, dropping her eyes again as a blush crept onto her cheeks.

"Thanks..." she said quietly "And..." she teased him.

"And..." he smiled, "You look...sexy..."

Sam laughed. Melanie had managed to coach her through applying her make-up, choosing the appropriate colours and jewelry to match her look, how to style her hair and how to accept the compliments she was sure to receive. Sam had to take various pictures of herself and send them to Melanie while she fed instructions through the phone. Sam didn't know how some girls went through this process everyday; she didn't know where they found the time. She finished barely on time and then managed to sneak out of the back door inconspicuously – she was lucky that Freddie was also a little late to pick her up.

"You don't clean up too bad yourself Benson," she complimented him, and he walked forward, taking her in his arms.

"You have no idea how lucky I am to have you..." he whispered, hugging her close.

Sam wormed her way out of his grip and stood on her toes, kissing him lightly. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer and deepening their kiss.

"Are you ready?" he asked her when she pulled away.

Sam nodded, "Let's go!"

XXXXXXX

"What's with the picnic basket?" Sam asked, noticing the large wooden basket on the backseat trying to hide under a large blue blanket.

Freddie glanced at her, "I was hoping you wouldn't notice that..." he admitted.

"It's kind of obvious," Sam pointed out, reaching back and pulling the blanket off the basket, "Let's see what you've packed for Momma..."

"Hey, hey!" Freddie grabbed her elbow and pulled her back into her seat, "Allow me some element of surprise at least!"

Sam grimaced at him, sitting back in her seat and hooking her seatbelt in.

"Fine..." she sighed, "At least tell me where you're taking us?"

Freddie shook his head and laughed, "Not far. But don't focus on where I'm taking you; rather focus on what we'll be doing..." he trailed off, glancing sneakily at her.

Sam's mind raced with possibilities of what they would be getting up to, most of them settling on something dirty-minded.

"Hey," she said, slapping his shoulder hard, "Don't go thinking that you can do whatever you want with me now that we're dating!"

"I wasn't!" Freddie defended himself, rubbing his shoulder and keeping his eyes on the road, "I didn't mean it like that!"

Sam noticed that they were heading out of the city, cruising along the highway and towards the suburban parts of Seattle.

"Seriously," Sam inquired, observing the passing houses, "Where are we going?"

"Some place private," Freddie said, taking a turn-off and heading uphill into a suburb.

"Stop beating around the bush Freddison," Sam teased him, "I'm curious!"

Freddie glanced over at her with another one of his sneaky smiles, "You'll find out soon enough, Sam," he insisted.

Sam groaned and folded her arms, sitting back into her seat and looking out of the window at the passing scenery.

There was silence in the car for a few minutes, Freddie tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as he cruised along the silent streets, turning into side streets accordingly.

"Sam..." Freddie broke the silence, "Are you...okay with this? With us?"

"Huh?" she answered, turning around in her seat, "Of course I am!"

"I mean, keeping this a secret and everything," Freddie continued.

"Well..." Sam paused, "I know why we have to, but I do feel bad keeping it from Carly. We did promise her that we wouldn't keep anymore secrets from her."

"Yeah, the same thing's been bothering me," Freddie admitted.

They fell silent again, each trying to wrap their minds around their situation.

"Should we tell her?" Sam whispered.

"We should..." Freddie answered, "But not yet."

Sam widened her eyes in surprise, "What do you mean?"

"Well..." Freddie hesitated, smiling at her, "I think Carly needs to warm up to the idea a little...she'd be shocked out of her system if we just came out and told her. We'll hint at it and have her figure it out for herself a little first. Then we'll come out and tell her."

"That could take ages!" Sam insisted, "She'd hate us if she found out without us telling her ourselves first."

"I'll give it a week," Freddie said confidently, "We'll slow down on the insults, do a little light flirting...we can even get a tiny bit touchy," he added with a wink.

"Before we know it Carly's head will be spinning with assumptions," Sam finished for him.

"Exactly," Freddie agreed, "And that's when we tell her we've started dating. Oh, and guess what else?"

"What?" Sam asked.

"We're here..."

They had pulled into a street that appeared to end in a dead end. As they drove up closer Sam saw the twinkling of lights ahead of them and she leaned forward, trying to catch a glimpse of the cliff that they were perched on. Freddie turned left onto a hidden dirt trail and skillfully maneuvered the car along the small pathway, finally coming to a stop between two large trees. The view ahead of them was breathtaking.

"Wow..." Sam breathed out in appreciation, admiring the lights of the city before them.

"That there," Freddie pointed ahead at a black expanse that was blocking the view of the moon, "Those are the Cascade Mountains. And down there," he pointed at a large gap in the lights, "That's Lake Union. Welcome to Seattle Lookout Point."

"How did you find this?" Sam whispered, still taking in the view.

"Not many people know about it," Freddie said, reaching into the backseat and picking up the basket, "But my aunt, baby Stephanie's mom, lives a few streets away from here and she and her husband sometimes hike through here. She told me about it a while back and I thought it'd be the perfect place for our first date. Private and secluded so no one can find us...we're totally alone..." he ended with a whisper, leaning over and breathing into her ear.

Sam batted him away with a small laugh, chills running down her spine from his warm breath on her neck.

"Behave Benson," she teased him.

He laughed and opened the car door, letting himself out and taking the blanket and basket with him.

"Come on," he beckoned to her. She let herself out and helped him lay the blanket on the grass in front of the car, taking a seat immediately. Freddie pulled two large candles and a box of matches from the basket, lighting them and placing each on a corner of the blanket.

"Let's try not to set the forest on fire," Freddie warned her, now removing two glasses, plates and knives from the basket next.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Sam breathed, inching closer to him and marveling at the effort he had put into their date.

He glanced at her, his rare sexy smile in place and she felt her heart rate pick up. She and Freddie were completely alone on the edge of a cliff overlooking the city. No one could bother them and no one would find them. She didn't know why but she was all of a sudden very nervous. She had only just begun to learn of her lustful urges for Freddie – when he kissed her it was like the entire world stopped and she got completely lost in the moment. They had barely completed first base and already she was worrying about what their urges might lead them into doing.

"Sam?" Freddie broke her train of thought, "Are you okay?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine..." Sam said quickly.

"You seemed like you were in your own world for a second," Freddie said, handing her a glass of sparkling grape juice.

"Yeah," Sam agreed with him, "I guess I was just...lost in the moment."

She took a sip of her juice, barely registering what it was and her taste buds exploded with pleasure.

"Wow, this stuff is good!" she exclaimed, taking another sip, "What is it?"

"Have you never had sparkling grape juice?" Freddie asked in surprise. Sam shook her head.

"I stay away from fruit juice," Sam said, "I hate the stuff...but this is good!"

She gulped down the last of it and held out her glass for more. He laughed and poured her some more juice.

"I'm glad you like it," he said, "Just wait until you see what I've packed for supper," he teased.

"Ooh..." Sam teased him, inching closer once more.

Freddie noticed her shift in body weight, placing the bottle back in the basket and turning to face her.

"You look so beautiful tonight..." he whispered, catching a stray curl and twisting it around his little finger. Sam tensed at this action, not sure whether she was comfortable with him doing it or not. He moved closer, placing the hand that had been playing with her curls behind her neck, entwining his fingers in her hair. Sam's breathing picked up as he leant forward, his mouth lightly caressing her bottom lip.

Sam edged forward into his arms, not sure where to place her arms but allowing Freddie to lead her into a comfortable position. They kissed lightly, the little fire erupting in both of their chests as they basked in the moment.

Sam pulled away, clearing her throat in uncertainty and feeling slightly awkward. She wasn't used to being this intimate with Freddie, and even though she had pictured it many times it was still an adjustment to her system. Freddie appeared to be feeling the same way; he shifted back and smiled at her, glancing away and clearing his throat as well.

"So..." Freddie said, sitting back, "I was avoiding bringing this up just in case you didn't want to talk about it, but I can't stand it anymore. I'm just too curious!"

"What is it?" Sam asked, leaning forward, just as curious to what he wanted to know.

"The dancing," Freddie said simply, "How long have you been doing it? I had no idea you could move like that!"

Sam laughed and took another sip from her glass before answering.

"You remember the pageant I did about two years ago?"

Freddie nodded.

"Well, Carly was going to take part at first, but then I did instead and I completely forgot about the talent portion. Carly tried to teach me the song she was going to sing, but I really wasn't up for singing in front of everyone. Carly's got the singing voice, not me, so I did a dance number instead." Sam explained.

"Just like that?" Freddie said in disbelief.

"Well, I ran into my old dance instructor at the pageant," Sam admitted, "I took lessons as a kid."

"And you stopped? Why?" he enquired.

"I hated being forced into all those pageants," Sam admitted, "My mom tried to turn me into a Melanie. I was the kid up in the tree and wrestling with the boys on the playground. After getting kicked out of the pageants I left everything that had to do with them and started doing what I really wanted. Mom was so disappointed that I got banned from competing that she let me do whatever I wanted anyway."

"And..." Freddie egged her on.

"And..." she continued, "After the pageant I started lessons again. I never hated dancing...I just hated the pressure. So now I take lessons at the community centre every week. I love it!"

"Well, I didn't see much on Saturday, but it seems like you really have a talent for it Sam," Freddie said, smiling and moving towards her again.

"Really?" Sam said. No one but Melanie had known that she was secretly taking dance lessons again so she rarely received praise from anyone for her dancing. She had considered telling her mom a few times, but her mom was so rarely at home that she never had much opportunity.

Ever since she and her mom had gone to that therapist a few months ago her mother was completely engrossed with her new long-time boyfriend. Sam had gone through a rough patch when Freddie and Carly had dated and had taken her frustration out on anything she could. One of these was telling her mother's then-boyfriend that her mother had been hit by a bus, terminating the relationship and leaving her mom confused when he never called her back. After the therapy session she had called him up and explained that her mom wasn't really dead and that she was sorry for making him think so. He and her mom got back in contact and were now dating. Her mom was happy and constantly out on dinner dates and weekend getaways, which suited Sam perfectly. She wasn't used to having the house to herself.

"Yeah, really," Freddie said quietly, leaning forward and kissing her softly. Sam smiled beneath his lips, scooting into his lap and wrapping her arms around him, deepening the kiss. He responded enthusiastically, hugging her close.

After a few minutes Sam pulled away again, her heart racing and her cheeks hot. She sat back on the blanket and downed the rest of her drink, Freddie doing the same.

"So, what surprise do you have in there for Momma?" Sam asked mischievously. Freddie smiled and reached into the basket, pulling out round plate covered by tin foil.

"I asked Gibby's mom to make this; I promise my mom wasn't anywhere near it," he assured her, pulling the foil off.

It was a platter, made up entirely of Sam's favourite foods. Ribs, fried chicken, pork, a variety of cheeses, fruit sticks, mini pizza and dips filled up the plate.

"Wow Freddie, this is awesome!" Sam exclaimed, reaching immediately for a wing.

"Thanks," Freddie answered.

"Man, I don't know if you have a dessert that can top this!" Sam challenged him, taking a bite of her chicken and smiling slyly.

"Oh, I think I do..." Freddie teased, leaning over and whispering into her ear.

Sam swallowed in surprised and nearly choked.

"Gullini's pie!" she half-shouted, Freddie laughing at her reaction. She dropped her wing and threw herself at him, tackling him onto the ground.

"I should've started dating you sooner!" she joked, poking at his ribs.

XXXXXXX

_Hope you liked it! Please leave me a review or send me a reply at Nix_Heyns on Twitter. ;) _


	16. Chapter 16: Girl Code

_An update? Already? Yeah, I know, I've been procrastinating with my studies so now I have a nbew Chapter for you! Thanks to everyone who reviewed (even those who decided to bash my apparent lack of Creddi-ness. All I can say is READ the WHOLE fanfic before you assume that I have not mentioned iSaved Your Life.) *sighs*_

_Anyway, thanks for the reviews everyone, and I would LOVE it if I got some more for this chapter! I put a lot of time and planning into my fanfic and it only takes a few seconds to review – so please make my day!_

_Enjoy all! _

_Love IamMu-chan_

**Chapter Sixteen**

Girl Code

"Morning..." Sam greeted Carly on Tuesday morning, trying to stifle a yawn and failing.

"Hey," Carly greeted her back, turning away from her locker and facing her friend, "Wow, you look exhausted Sam! Did you struggle to sleep last night?"

"Um, yeah..." she replied, yawning again, "I was...um...restless, I guess..."

"Is everything alright?" Carly asked, turning back to her locker as Sam walked past her and did the combination on her own locker.

"Yeah, I'll be fine after I get some coffee," Sam said, opening up her locker and absent-mindedly placing books into it.

"Morning girls," Freddie offered from behind them and Sam felt her entire body shiver with electricity. She turned around and glanced at him shyly from behind Carly, meeting his eyes and smiling. He returned her smile with a sexy grin and a sneaky stare of his own before turning his attention to Carly.

"Hey Freddie!" Carly greeted him, looking him up and down, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?" he answered.

"You look tired, that's all," Carly replied, "I hope you're not missing out on sleep because of iCarly work!"

"No, I...I guess I just got a little carried away last night," Freddie said, glancing at Sam again, a smile playing at his lips. Sam fiddled with a lock of her hair, catching his eye and turning back to her locker quickly before Carly caught the exchange. She took a breath. This was where she came in – insulting Freddie once in a while was crucial to keeping their relationship a secret for now. She turned to face him, her flirtatious smile gone.

"Aw, was Freddie up all night playing with his nerd toys?" she teased him, noticing that there was less bite in her voice than usual.

"No!" Freddie protested, catching onto Sam's bantering, "I was too busy paying special attention to the star of iCarly..."

Sam blushed and spluttered, trying to hide her face from Carly when she looked at her in surprise.

"So...so, you were perving over pictures of Carly all night then?" she tried to recover.

"Sam!" Carly exclaimed.

"Neh!" Freddie responded to her, ignoring Carly's outburst.

"Neh!" Sam said in return, slamming her locker and stalking off, leaving Freddie, Carly and her embarrassment behind.

"OK, that was weird..." Carly said awkwardly, "Sorry Freddie, Sam didn't get a lot of sleep last night either so she'll be in a weird mood until she gets caffeine in her system."

"It's okay," Freddie said, adjusting his backpack on his shoulder, "I'm pretty used to it by now."

"So, what did you mean by 'paying attention to the stars of iCarly'?" she asked him, closing her locker and falling into step with him as they made their way to class.

"I was editing some of the photos that we use around the website," Freddie replied, his excuse already thought out, "I think we need to take new promotional pics. The site is really popular, and we still have pics up there from almost two years ago. We need a new look."

"Yeah, I think so too," Carly agreed, "We'll discuss it after school, ok?"

"Sure," Freddie replied, entering the class and taking his usual seat in front of Sam's; she wasn't there yet and he suspected she was waiting until the last moment to enter so as to avoid giving themselves away.

He chuckled to himself; the comment about 'paying attention to the star of iCarly' was similar to the one he had made last night and he knew it would bring the memories of the night rushing back to her. He had noticed her deep blush and the quick escape thereafter, and it made him feel slightly smug. He had no idea he could make Sam feel this way about him.

"_Freddie, wait!" Sam exclaimed, pushing him away and sitting upright, gasping for breath. They were sprawled out on the blanket, their meal long completed and a chilly breeze was tickling their skin. They felt nothing of it though; the air had been electric all night with sexual tension and it had finally reached boiling point. Freddie had leant in naturally, kissing Sam lightly at first but soon deepening his touch and pulling her closer for more._

_Sam had willingly let him pull her into him, his mouth opening suggestively beneath her lips, his hot breath spilling into her mouth. She had always been the tough one who talked back and displayed a street-smart, kick-ass attitude to the world, but in that moment she felt more vulnerable than ever. She had no idea how to kiss a guy – Freddie had been her first kiss and it was innocent and a mere peck to the way he was kissing her now. _

_Pete had offered her a similar kiss when they had briefly dated, but after that she had never kissed another guy. Sure, she had dated a few guys before her kiss with Freddie; Eric Moseby was useful for the foreign bacon he provided her with every month, and she had tolerated his conversation and occasionally held his hand for a few months before she dumped him. Jonah had been another story entirely – she had truly liked him and there had been plenty of opportunities for him to kiss her but he had never followed through. She was hurt when she realized he had tried to kiss Carly; not once had he puckered his lips in her direction and even though they had been a couple she knew she had just been a convenient hang out buddy. Dumping him hadn't been difficult considering how angry she was with him, but the hurt came later, especially when she was alone. _

_But, back to the matter at hand – Freddie had lain her down as they kissed passionately, their tongues exploring the others with excited curiosity. Sam admitted that he was a good kisser, but every time she thought it the same annoyingly girly worries would rush through her mind: 'What if I'm not good? He learnt how to kiss this well from Carly, what if I'm not as good as her? What is it they say about fireworks when you kiss someone? Is he feeling fireworks? Am I supposed to be hearing wedding bells? Is something wrong if I'm not?'_

_Sam pushed him away and sat up, gasping for air as she exclaimed "Freddie, wait!"_

"_What's wrong?" Freddie asked, sitting back on his knees. "Is this...too fast?" he asked worriedly._

"_I, um, I don't know how this works..." Sam admitted, "There are rules for these kinds of things, right? Like no kissing on first dates unless they're awesome and...fireworks and stuff like that. Right?"_

"_Fireworks?" Freddie questioned, leaning forward again, "What do you mean by 'how this works'?" _

"_I...I don't know!" Sam said in frustration, "It's just...you're kissing me, and it's great, but I've got all these thoughts buzzing around in my head! And they're annoying! I can't get them to shut up and I keep thinking about whether I'm as good a kisser as you are, and-"_

_Freddie shushed her by leaning forward and kissing her forcefully on the mouth, catching Sam off guard. She pushed away from him again, not nearly finished with her rambling, but he pulled her in again and forced his lips over hers. She fought him, pushing at his shoulders and tightening her mouth, but Freddie simply knotted his hand at her neck and held her firmly in place. Sam's thoughts were whirling out of control as her insecurities fluttered to the surface. More 'what-if's' punctuated her mind as she tried to get the boy off her, afraid that he would be dissatisfied. However, the more Freddie kissed her, the fuzzier her mind became. Soon she was tangled in his arms again as she kissed him greedily, her thoughts long forgotten. This time Freddie pulled away, and Sam yearned hungrily for more. _

"_This is how it works," Freddie said, a little out of breath, "I kiss you and you melt, no questions asked."_

"_But, what if-"_

"_You're not a good kisser?" Freddie supplied, and she nodded shyly._

"_Sam," Freddie shook his head, "Do you honestly think I would be kissing you if I didn't like it?"_

"_You've had a lot of practice," Sam interjected, "And you've kissed Carly who has a lot more experience than me. I just...I don't know how to be a good kisser."_

_She knew she was being silly, and the more she admitted the more pathetic she sounded and for one of the first times she felt like hiding her head in embarrassment. _

"_Kissing," Freddie answered patiently, moving closer to her again and wrapping his arms around her waist, "Is about more than just your mouth. It's about the way you hold the girl," – he pulled her into him gently – "And how she touches you," – Sam wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling in closer – "The way your bodies fill with electricity," – he lowered one hand to the curve of her back and ran the other up her spine until it rested at her neck. Sam shivered – "And finally, how your lips touch. Is it a lovers embrace or simply one for a passing fancy? Is there real emotion behind it?"_

_With that said he leaned forward and fitted his mouth gently to hers, their lips automatically parting as they shifted and enclosed each other in a tight embrace. That was when Sam felt it – she had been so busy worrying before that she hadn't even noticed it – a tingling all the way from her toes, up her spine, into her fingers and finally settling within her chest. She didn't hear wedding bells and she didn't see fireworks but she knew that this was right. This kiss was the only one she would ever need; Freddie was all she would ever want._

_Freddie embraced Sam enthusiastically, liking that she held him a little too tightly at his neck and that she pushed herself hungrily against him. Their kiss was strong and filled with a passion he never knew he possessed for the girl. When Carly had kissed him it had been gentle and caring, just as she was, and he had been over the moon that her lips were simply touching his. He had chosen to ignore the fact that he had felt stiff and sometimes smothered by her advances, but now that he knew what it was like to make-out with Sam he regretted that he had missed out on it for so long. _

_The kiss ended gently, morphing from a full-on make-out to deep smooches and light pecks before they pulled away and looked at each other. Sam's normally pale blue eyes were sparkling with an emotion Freddie was unable to place as a smile donned her features. He hugged her close, whispering in her ear:_

"_Forget about me kissing Carl. Tonight I'm paying attention to the true star of iCarly..." _

Sam entered the classroom at the same time the final bell rang. Freddie had been watching the door out of the corner of his eye and he breathed a sigh of relief when she entered. He would have worried if she hadn't arrived, thinking that she had found herself unable to handle lying to Carly. Who was he kidding? This was Sam! She was the strongest person he knew and she had diligently kept the secret of their first kiss until she had been exposed to the loopy gas and was unable to control her actions.

She made her way to her sea behind Freddie, giving Gibby a quick high five before falling into her chair. She reached out, indicating that she wanted to give him a high five too. He reached out uncertainly, not sure whether he understood her motives correctly. She slapped her hand into his, holding it longer than expected and giving him a meaningful look. As she drew her hand away Freddie felt her press a piece of paper into his palm. Obviously the high five had a hidden objective.

He drew his hand back and turned around in his seat, as Sam high-fived Carly as well.

"What's with all the high-fiving?" Carly asked, a small laugh escaping her form.

"Momma just found out what the lunch special today is," Sam said smugly.

"Isn't it Chilli Tuesday, like usual?" Carly enquired, sticking out her tongue as Sam shook her head. Meanwhile Freddie unfolded the small piece of paper, Sam's large handwriting clearly visible.

"Apparently today is the anniversary of when Freddie saved your life," Sam said as cheerfully as ever, but Freddie noticed the chill behind her tone.

"Really?" Carly exclaimed, looking over at Freddie, who had his back turned to her, "That happened almost three years ago! What does that have to do with the lunch special?"

"Well, Spencer remembered," Sam explained, "And he decided to dub today as Spaghetti Taco Tuesday!" Sam squealed.

"What?" Carly said, obviously excited, "That's awesome! But, um, why?"

"Since Freddork got hit by a taco truck he thought it was a cool idea," Sam shrugged and then leant forward, "I think he just feels bad about fighting with you about Adam, so this is how he's making up for it."

Carly laughed, "Ah, good old Spencer!" she sighed as their teacher entered the classroom and silenced them all.

Freddie quickly turned to Sam, his gaze concerned. Carly was reaching into her backpack for her books, giving them the opportunity to have a silent conversation with their eyes.

_You okay? _

_Just dandy!_

_I'm sorry..._

_Forget it Freddie._

_We'll tell her...soon._

_No! I have to talk to her first. _

Freddie nodded as Carly reemerged from under her desk and he turned in his seat, still clutching Sam's note.

_We forgot about something,_ it read, _It's called the Girl Code... _

XXXXXXX

The Girl Code: A set of rules for girls that have never been recorded. There is no rule book; they're unwritten grains of wisdom that are gained over the years and are automatically imprinted within a woman's mind. Rules such as _"Never let girlfriends go to the bathroom alone_," and _"Boyfriend's are temporary – girlfriends are forever,"_ are rules that are adhered to on an almost daily basis. The most important of all these rules is certainly the one that states this: _"NEVER date your best friend's ex-boyfriend unless they give permission. And sometimes asking permission is just as good as breaking the girl code rule itself." _

The call-operator type voice that Sam had assigned to reciting the Girl Code in her mind rambled on in her head for the rest of the school day. She couldn't believe she had forgotten about the Girl Code; she had been so swept up by the fact that she and Freddie were actually dating that she never once thought: _'Hey, he's Carly's ex-boyfriend. Ex-boyfriends are off-limits.'_

The three of them had been friends for so long that Sam barely even considered Freddie as one of Carly's ex's. They had only dated a week and had gone from friends, to a couple, to friends so quickly that she wasn't sure if Freddie did count as an ex. There had been no tears over the break-up, no mentions of their previous relationship or anything to even hint at the fact that they were an ex-couple.

Even though Sam knew this she still felt obliged to follow the Code. She had never had any idea of it until Carly had come along; she was introduced to the Girl Code when a boy came between her and Carly in fifth grade. His name was Frankie Murkin, and, unknown to Sam, Carly had been interested in him since she was old enough to like boys. So, when Frankie asked Sam out instead of Carly (at that age boys seemed to prefer tom-boyish girls) her best friend had lightly explained the Code to her.

"One shall not date or pursue a boy that your best friend is interested in," Carly had said as if she was quoting a line from the Ten Commandments. Sam had been grateful that her friend wasn't angry with her, and soon rectified the problem in the only way she knew how; violence. She had pushed Frankie out of a tree the next day at recess and then he had "rudely dumped her" as Carly liked to put it.

Freddie, however, was no Frankie Murkin, and Sam wasn't about to bend to the Girl Code for Carly this time around. She loved Freddie, and for the longest time Carly had shown zero interest in him, making the ex situation that much more complicated. Sure, they had dated, but only because of the hero buzz surrounding Freddie. The call-operator screamed in Sam's head _"But they still dated!" _and it was driving her crazy.

"We need to work on some ideas for this week's iCarly," Carly pointed out as she unlocked the door to her apartment, "Do you guys want to do it now?"

Sam and Freddie had been having another of their wordless conversations behind Carly's back, so Freddie's answer was already thought out.

"I first want to finish my planning on the new website layout," he said simply, "It shouldn't take too long. I'll come by just after supper maybe?"

"Ok," Carly agreed, "That'll give me and Sam some time to work on our assignment that's due."

"Assignment?" Sam asked. She didn't know of any assignments that were due.

"Yeah," Carly reminded her, "For History, remember? Mr. Hale said we could work in pairs if we wanted to, so I thought we could do it together?"

"Ok," Sam immediately agreed, "But you know you'll be doing most of the work right?"

Carly rolled her eyes, "If I don't save your grades then who will?" she teased.

They parted ways and Sam made an immediate beeline for the refrigerator, hoping that Spencer had stashed some of his leftover spaghetti tacos from lunch in there. She wasn't disappointed.

"Man," Sam said, taking a bite into the slightly moist taco shell and appreciating the spaghetti that joined it, "How awesome was lunch today?"

"Really awesome!" Carly said animatedly, "But I'm not sure whether I should have been amused or embarrassed by Spencer wearing a hairnet in front of all my classmates."

"Eh, he's worn more embarrassing things on iCarly. And the whole world gets to see that!" Sam remarked, "Besides, it was hilarious!"

"Yeah, you're right!" Carly admitted, "Where is Spencer anyway?"

A muffled groan was heard from the direction of Spencer's bedroom and Carly went to inspect what her brother had gotten himself into this time. She returned a few seconds later, a motherly expression set on her face.

"He's exhausted," she crooned, "Mumbled something about how high-scholars have vicious appetites. I think he struggled to keep up with the rush today..." she paused before saying lightly, "Apology accepted adult-o."

Sam grinned through her mouthful of taco and spaghetti at her friend, the nagging voice in the back of her mind reminding her that she needed to talk to Carly about the Girl Code problem. Spencer's spaghetti taco apology idea was what had reminded Sam about the Girl Code in the first place; after she had fled her locker she passed Spencer nearby the cafeteria, his arms laden with boxes full of taco shells. He had told her his idea, and at the mention of the day Freddie had saved Carly's life Sam's mind seemed to finally put two and two together.

Freddie + Saving Carly's life + Dating + Breaking up = Freddie is Carly's ex-boyfriend. And Sam is now dating said ex-boyfriend. Uh-oh...

"Carls," Sam started once she had finished her afternoon snack. Filling the empty hole in her stomach helped gain her some confidence and she was ready to leap in before her gut changed its mind, "Today is the anniversary that Freduccini saved your life and all, so don't get mad for me asking this, ok?"

"Hmm?" Carly indicated that she was curious, looking up from her History textbook, "What is it Sam?"

"Well, you two dated," she started, hating herself for the way she was starting this conversation, "And then you broke up. Freddie told me you two might get back together once the whole hero business blew over. So...why haven't you?"

"Oh..." Carly said, obviously surprised by Sam's question, "Well...um...why are you asking this?"

"Just wondering!" Sam said defensively, then changing her tact. She needed to get Carly to carry on talking without getting suspicious of anything. "It's leading up to something else, I promise."

Carly narrowed her eyes a little before sighing and flopping back onto the couch, History book forgotten momentarily.

"It just..." she started, "Never happened I guess. He never asked again. Neither of us ever brought it up, not once, in these three years. Today was the first time any of us mentioned it. I'll admit that I couldn't wait for those casts to come off," her eyes sparkled with the memory of how she had felt back then, "And when they did I waited for him to ask me out again. I don't know if he was waiting for me, but after the hero buzz had really died off, I kind of..."

Carly trailed off, clearly ashamed at herself, "I admitted to Melanie after we broke up that I had 'fallen in love' too quickly. It didn't mean I wanted to end it. I wanted to take things slower next time. That was my plan. And then, one day, I just...moved on. Freddie obviously had, and I'm glad he did."

"If he asked to date you now, would you?" Sam couldn't help but ask. She was brimming with slight jealousy, but she was mostly worried that Carly still had feelings for Freddie. If that was the case then Sam was definitely in the wrong for dating him.

"No," Carly answered without a hint of doubt, "I realized long ago that I had been infatuated with him because he had saved my life. I've known Freddie longer than anyone, and he's like my second brother," she smiled, "If I think about dating or kissing him now it would just be too weird!"

Sam laughed; a genuine laugh of relief at Carly's words. She had been worried that everything was about to go downhill for her and Freddie, but it seemed like they still had a chance.

"Does Freddie even qualify as one of your ex-boyfriends?" Sam asked then, biting her lip, "Since you weren't really in love with him?"

Carly hesitated before answering, pondering Sam's question slightly. "Yes," she answered slowly, trying to make her point, "He does qualify as an ex-boyfriend, but not in all terms of the word."

"All-terms?" Sam asked, moving from her shelter at the kitchen counter to join her friend on the couch. The conversation was a lot friendlier now that Carly's feelings for Freddie were out of the way, but Sam still felt tense.

"Yeah," Carly began to explain, "He's an ex-boyfriend, but he's not my exclusive guy."

Sam narrowed her eyes at Carly, egging her on to explain more. Carly sighed.

"Remember when Jonah tried to kiss me?" she asked and Sam nodded,

"Slimy skunkbag," she added for effect. Carly smiled.

"Well, it's Girl Code all over again. I shouldn't kiss or date him because a) You're already dating him, and b) You're my best friend. If you two broke up the rules would still apply because he's your ex."

"So..." Sam encouraged her.

"So, Girl Code applies to Jonah because you were really into him and he was into you too. Until he tried to kiss me..." Carly trailed off, shrugging her apology.

"Old news Carls," Sam brushed it off, anxious for her to make her point.

"Thanks," she responded, "What I'm trying to say is that I really wasn't into Freddie – I was just into him saving my life. So Freddie is my ex-boyfriend, but I can't get upset if he were to kiss you again, for example."

Sam laughed again, an over-exaggerated one this time in order to cover up the spike in fear she suddenly had at Carly's mention of her kissing Freddie.

"Yeah right, like Freddie would ever do that again!" she said in between her laughter, still trying to keep up her act.

"Aw, come on Sam," Carly said, pulling her legs up onto the couch and crossing them. Uh-oh. Sam knew that move – she had gotten Carly into girl talk mode and this wasn't going to end well, "You and Freddie get along really well. And he did give you your first kiss." She gave a girlish giggle all of a sudden, "I wonder what it would be like if you two dated!"

Sam sprang up, not having the will-power to continue this conversation and not give something about her and Freddie away.

"Talking about Freddie!" she said loudly, "I haven't played a prank on him in ages. His mom's at work right? I think I'll go pay him a little visit..."

"Okay..." Carly said in the tone she adopted when she didn't know how to react to something weird, "He's working though Sam, so you should really leave him-"

She didn't have time to finish her sentence before the door to her apartment slammed shut behind Sam who had grabbed a jar of glue from Spencer's sculpting kit on the way out. She shook her head.

Sam and Freddie were always a difficult pair to figure out; they were as different as night and day yet they were closer to the other than either of them realized. Over the years Sam no longer confided a lot of things in Carly anymore – Freddie always seemed to know more about her than she did and he was normally the first person Sam would call in an emergency. A few years back Sam had been dragged off to Juvenile Detention for the night, leaving her unable to do the iCarly scheduled for that evening. She had texted Freddie instead of her immediately when she had realized she would miss the show and Carly didn't understand why. She knew that Sam didn't hate Freddie; he was fun to pick on and easy to prank but she knew her meat-loving friend had a soft spot for him. Freddie, despite being harassed by Sam for the past ten years, valued Sam's friendship highly. He'd do anything to protect her and willingly spent time pulling pranks and eating lunch with her.

Carly settled back into the cushions, lost in thought. She remembered how strangely they had both acted the night of their first. Back then she hadn't known why, but it was obvious that they were more than just awkward about it. Sam had been lost in her own world while Freddie had looked like he was on the verge of solving an intricate math problem. Their behaviour had been fine the next day, of course, but Carly knew how good Sam was at putting up masks for the world. She just never suspected she would put one on for her too...

Carly jolted upright in her seat. Did Sam _like_ Freddie? Did Sam like Freddie as more than just a friend and the occasional punch-bag? Was that why she had been asking about their relationship earlier? And what about Freddie? If Sam did like him did he feel the same way?

Carly narrowed her eyes in suspicion, turning to look at the door Sam had just left through. She had suspected something on the night her two best friends had kissed, and they had proven her suspicions right when she found out. Were her suspicions right this time around as well? There was only one way to find out...

XXXXXXX

_Please review! Next chapter will be up soon!_


	17. Chapter 17: Consequences

_An update? Yeah, I know, I 'm shocked at how long this one took too. I wrote most of it the same day that I posted Chapter 16 but then I hit a writers block like no other and couldn't finish it up until earlier this evening. =)_

_Sorry for the lateness, but please enjoy it!_

_**NB: This story will soon be ending, but will continue in the SEQUEL that I will be writing soon. ;) It's called "The Year that Changed it All". Please log onto YouTube and look for the trailer on my channel IamMuchan7! =) Also be sure to follow me on Twitter for updates! Nix_Heyns**_

_Much Love!_

**Chapter Seventeen**

Consequences

Sam exited Carly's apartment, closing the door behind her and leaning briefly against it. The talk had gone better than she had thought; Carly and Freddie seemed to be entirely over. She no longer had feelings for him and Freddie had clearly gotten over her as well. Sam could breathe easy again.

Then why was her chest contracted in a weird way? She should have been over the moon about Carly's unintended blessing for her to date Freddie, but there was a strong sense of guilt and doubt poking her from behind. She was Carly's best friend and she knew her better than anyone did...besides Freddie of course. She knew that Carly tended to wear her heart on her sleeve, so this mindset could just be in place because of Adam's presence. Was Carly truly alright with her dating Freddie? She seemed alright with him dating _someone else _but what if that someone was her?

Carly had mentioned them kissing again...and had seemed to want to chat to her about what it would be like if she and Freddie dated. That was a good sign, right? Had Carly already picked up on some signs that she and Freddie liked each other? Sam shook her head, clutching the jar of glue firmly in her hands, her eyes shut tight.

Carly was her best friend, and she did feel guilty that she was keeping her relationship with Freddie a secret from her, especially since he's her ex, but Freddie was the guy that she...loved. Carly would HAVE to understand when they told her.

Sam sighed and pushed herself away from the door, heading to Freddie's instead and letting herself in. She glanced around the entrance hall and entered the living room, not seeing him anywhere. She scanned the kitchen, her eyes lingering on the inviting fridge before she made her way upstairs to Freddie's room.

Once she was outside his door she knocked lightly, noticing the sound of music that filtered through the closed door. It stopped abruptly once she had knocked and a few seconds later the door was pulled open by Freddie.

"Oh," he said, opening the door wider when he saw who it was, "I thought my mom must have come home early. What's up Sam?"

Sam stepped forward, resting her head on his chest for a brief second before looking up at him. She loved that he was taller than her – she always imagined herself kissing her future boyfriend on her tiptoes, and Freddie fit her fantasy perfectly. Freddie noticed the look in her eyes and a concerned expression filled his features.

"What's wrong?" he asked this time, "Did you have the talk with Carly?"

Sam nodded, and Freddie immediately pulled her into his room, shutting the door behind them and leading her over to his bed where they both sat down.

"What happened? What did she say?" he pressed for information and Sam smiled in order to assure his worried tone.

"It's alright," she started, "It went well...it seems like Carly is over you and doesn't have a problem with me dating you."

"What?" Freddie said, "Did you tell her?"

"No!" Sam said, raising her hands, the glue jar placed carefully on the bed between them, "I didn't have to. Carly kind of brought it up herself. She said, just as an example, if you and I were to kiss again she'd be fine with it."

"Oh..." Freddie said again, his brow furrowed in thought, "Why would she use that example though?" he asked.

Sam shrugged, "Who knows? It just came up."

"Well, this is good news right?" Freddie said, smiling, "Right?" he asked again when Sam's expression remained unreadable.

"It is," Sam said slowly, choosing her words carefully, "But I'm not sure whether Carly really means it."

Freddie shrugged, encouraging her to continue.

"You and I both know how Carly wears her heart on her sleeve Freddie!" Sam exploded all of a sudden, "How do we know that she's really over you? How do we know that she's not just saying she's alright with us dating simply because she has Adam as a boyfriend now? What if they break up, and when she's single she realizes that she-"

She was cut off by Freddie who had pulled her close and planted his mouth on hers. She immediately began to melt, but she shook the feeling away. She pushed away from him, giving him a stern look.

"You can't just kiss me every time I start ranting you know?" she argued.

"But it works..." Freddie said playfully, leaning in again, but Sam batted his advancements away and stood up abruptly.

"No Fredlumps!" she protested, "This is serious chizz! I'm not sure whether Carly would take this well!"

Freddie shrugged, standing up and taking her one hand in his, "I know," he agreed, "But what else can we do but take a chance?" he added.

Sam felt the pulling in her chest increase. She felt the wetness behind her eyes before she realized that she wanted to cry. That's what the pulling in her chest was; after finally admitting her feelings to Freddie and realizing that he felt the same way she had felt unbelievably happy. Now there was a chance that everything she had been hoping for would come crashing down if Carly still had feelings for Freddie.

"Stupid Girl Code!" Sam said angrily, spinning around and crossing her arms firmly over her chest, forcing the threatening tears back, "Stupid ex's rule!" she continued, "Stupid...stupid..." she trailed off.

Freddie smiled from behind Sam's back. He understood that she was frustrated, but he believed that she was over-thinking it. He knew that he had nothing but brotherly feelings for Carly, and he admitted that she tended to wear her heart on her sleeve, but as long as he gave her no reason to think they had a chance of dating again he knew she would accept his and Sam's relationship.

He went up behind Sam, intending on wrapping his arms around her and spinning her around to look at him. As soon as he touched her though, she threw his arms off, stepping forward out of his reach again.

"Sam..." Freddie said warningly. She was frustrated, and she was too used on taking her frustration out on him. She would not get away with it.

"Don't touch me," Sam muttered coldly, still refusing to look at him. Freddie stepped forward bravely, wrapping his arms forcibly around her waist and hanging on. She fought him, stepping on his toes and lurching forward, trying to break his grasp. He held on, pulling her back into him and avoiding her head as she threw it backwards, trying to break his nose no doubt.

"Stop it Freddie!" Sam said angrily, and Freddie noticed the coldness had left her tone. It had been a while since they'd had a good tussle, and he knew she was enjoying it.

"Stop what?" Freddie mocked her innocently, "This?" he added, squeezing her tighter, pulling her closer to his body. She gasped, wriggling to break free.

"Yes!" she squealed, still struggling. Sam was now fitted snugly into Freddie's body, wiggling and struggling to break free. Freddie put his head into the crook of her neck, finding out that this was a strange turn-on for him. Who would've thought that fighting with Sam could turn him on? He pulled away slightly; he was embarrassed that his sudden lust was being reflected, but Sam slammed herself back into him as she tried a new tactic: trying to overthrow his balance.

Freddie gasped at the sudden impact; every part of his body was sensitive at this moment and he was easily overthrown. The couple toppled backwards onto the bed, Freddie still holding tightly onto Sam. He let go all of a sudden as her kicking legs came dangerously close to making contact with a place that would leave him out of action for a while; Sam's kicks were lethal. Sam felt him release her and she rolled off of him, landing on the bed face down.

She and Freddie were both breathing hard. They lay there for a few seconds, catching their breath and staring at each other. Freddie was glad to see that the anger and sadness had left Sam's eyes and been replaced with their old mischievous glow, accompanied by the smile that spelled trouble. She propped herself up onto her hands and knees as Freddie remained staring up at her.

"Momma wins," she claimed daringly.

"Uh, uh!" Freddie disagreed, grabbing one of her arms and pulling her towards him, making her fall onto her stomach once more as he rolled on top of her.

"Not this time Princess Puckett!" Freddie said, not believing that he had actually managed to pin her. His victory didn't last long though; Sam managed to throw him off her back, making him land on his back once more. She scrambled on top of him and pinned him onto the bed instead. Freddie resisted at first...until Sam kissed him violently, making him turn to jelly.

They kissed for a few minutes, Sam releasing her hold on Freddie and sinking into him instead as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. He moaned a little into her mouth, enjoying the passionate side of Sam that he was now seeing. She ran her hands through his hair as he caressed the bit of bare skin now showing at her back as her shirt hitched up.

Sam broke away, gasping for breath as her eyes sparkled with love (and lust) for the boy lying sprawled on the bed, his cheeks red from the heat that was running through his veins.

"Like I said," Sam panted slightly, "Momma wins!"

"You can beat me like that any day," Freddie breathed, gulping as he tried to regain his cool. He was sorely tempted to do more with Sam, and if he didn't cool down now he wasn't sure whether he would be able to control himself.

Sam laughed at his response, lowering herself snugly into his side and resting her head on his shoulder. Freddie wrapped his arms around her once more, resting his head on hers.

"This is going to work out, right?" Sam muttered, "I don't have to be scared that I'm going to lose you do I?"

"Lose me?" Freddie repeated, "Never! Now that I know how you feel about me there's no way I'm letting you go! I'll fight for you Sam...you'll never lose me."

Sam smiled, snuggling into his chest as she heard a small creak outside Freddie's door.

"Would you agree with me that you'd do anything to keep this relationship safe?" she almost whispered, linking her one hand in his and playing with his fingers.

"Yes," Freddie answered.

"No matter what the consequences?" Sam continued, already dreading what she had to do.

"Yes..." Freddie said again, confused at her sudden questions.

"Keep that in mind Freddie," Sam said simply, "And remember: I didn't mean to do this."

"Sam, what are you-?" Freddie exclaimed as Sam rolled away from him, landing on the floor on her knees, a stick covered in a white paste clutched in her hands. Before Freddie could register what the substance was the door to his room flew open, and in stormed Carly, a look of determination clear on her face.

"Ah-ha!" she shouted triumphantly, pointing at Freddie who was still sprawled on the bed. Her expression changed all of a sudden when her eyes turned to Sam, and they widened in clear shock as her gaze jumped from the object in her hands and back to Freddie.

"Sam! What did you do?"

"What?" Sam said innocently, changing from her playful, lustful side back into the Sam that her friends knew. Freddie looked between them, lost at what they meant. He tried to sit up – he felt awkward lying on the bed with Carly staring at him with surprised eyes – and found himself unable to move forward. He looked back and found his hand glued to the headboard, the super-sculpting-glue that Spencer often made use of already set. Know he knew what the stick with the sticky white substance in Sam's hands was: her "insurance". She must have heard Carly ascending the stairs outside his bedroom and had acted fast; the glue jar she had brought up had been lying near the headboard and she must have taken the stick and covered his hand in glue when she had played with his fingers earlier.

"Sam!" Freddie shouted in shock, impressed at her quick thinking but upset that he was now glued to the headboard nonetheless.

"You better hurry if you want to keep your hand Fredweeb," Sam said in a sing-song voice, standing up and skipping towards the door, "Been a while, hasn't it?" she added.

Freddie tried to hold back a smile; it had been a while since he and Sam had immersed themselves in a prank war, and he saw one coming up in order to keep their relationship under the radar.

"Yeah," he agreed, his trademark sexy smile playing at his lips, "Look out Puckett...Bensons going to get you!"

Sam laughed, memories of the prank and threat that had led to their first kiss rushing through her mind.

"Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow..." she sang.

"But I'm gonna get ya!" Freddie finished for her. Sam turned her back and skipped past Carly, winking at her as she left the room.

"I..." Carly stammered, obviously thrown off by their exchange and the scene she had walked in on, "I'll go get something to get the glue off your hand!" she shouted, running out of the room with the promise of returning a.s.a.p.

Freddie sighed and leaned back into his pillows, amazed at Sam's skill of deception. There was a reason that he had never picked up on her feelings for him sooner – Sam was an expert at wearing masks and keeping secrets, and here he was forcing her to do more of it for his sake.

He shook his head; he was scared to go public with the knowledge of him and Sam dating, especially to Carly, because he didn't want to change their group dynamic. He liked the fact that he and Sam were seen as "frenemies" and that he and Carly had this silent agreement to raise Sam in the best way they could. Freddie was never popular with girls, but Sam had always paid him a special kind of attention; on the one hand she tortured and abused him and on the other she showed caring where it was necessary. He didn't know how people would react to their relationship, and he didn't want anything negative ruining their chance at happiness.

He sighed. They couldn't keep this up for too long. He tugged at his hand – the consequences might just kill him.

XXXXXXX

"Attention everyone!" Wendy shouted through the megaphone she held, Miss Briggs keeping a close eye on her. Miss Briggs was very possessive over her megaphone after Sam had managed to steal it and hold onto it for a week, and she wasn't letting it get away from her again.

Carly turned away from her conversation with Sam to stare up at Wendy; she was standing at the top of the stairwell, a few gold-decorated cue cards in her hand and a huge smile on her face.

"What's going on?" she asked no one in particular, glancing behind her to see Sam shrug. The students began gathering around them to hear what Wendy had to say. Two weeks had passed since Sam and Carly's Girl Code talk; Sam and Freddie were still keeping their relationship a secret, but it was becoming more and more difficult to do so. The atmosphere around the school had changed over the last two weeks – they were nearing summer vacation, and along with that came the exciting prospect of prom. People had begun pairing up everywhere; Carly and Adam were joined at the hip in between classes, giving Sam and Freddie plenty of chance for some alone time. When they weren't sneaking into closets or sharing sexy glances they were pulling pranks for the public eye to see.

Carly had managed to unglue Freddie's hand from the bed post with little damage to his skin, but the pranks that Sam lay out for him since then hadn't left him as lucky. He now sported a new scar, some singed arm hair and a new haircut which had to be done after Sam had stuck her gum in his hair during class. He didn't complain – he had sported worse injuries from Sam's pranking before, and it helped that she could make up for it with a kiss when need be.

"What's Wendy on about?" they heard behind them, and Sam felt her entire body shiver with electricity as Freddie came up behind her, pressing his hand against her back for a second and caressing a line which he had discovered to be sensitive to her. She jumped forward as she shivered, covering up with a biting comment.

"Didn't you hear?" she said sarcastically, "They're announcing the nub King and Queen. You've been nominated Fredweird. Ten bucks says you'll take the crown!"

"Ha ha," Freddie mocked her, cocking his eyebrows at her to show how impressed he was by her insult. Sam smiled back at him mischievously, her eyes tracing the small scar he now sported below his right eye – a souvenir from her last prank. She liked it – it made him look sexy and dangerous.

"Speaking of King and Queen," Carly said, ignoring their usual banter, "I think it might have something to do with prom..."

She trailed off as Adam came into view. He walked over and threw his arm around Carly's shoulders, hugging her close and planting a kiss on her forehead.

"Hey baby," he teased her, ruffling her hair a little with his other hand.

"Stop it!" she squealed, giggling and leaning into him, a look of pure adoration in her eyes, "Missed you!"

"Missed you too!" Adam said, winking at her, "So, what's this all about?" he asked, beckoning in Wendy's direction. She was waiting patiently for the students to gather around her and fall quiet.

"Dunno," Sam and Freddie said in unison. They gave each other an annoyed look before Sam continued.

"We think it might have something to do with prom," she finished, rolling her eyes.

"Ooh," Adam said dramatically, smiling down at Carly again, "I wonder who's going to be my date?" he teased.

Carly slapped him lightly as Wendy picked up the megaphone again, preparing to silence the crowd.

Sam glanced up at Freddie after Adam's date comment, a worried look on her face. Freddie's face matched hers for a second, but he smiled and squeezed her hand quickly to reassure her. They'd discuss it later and come up with a solution.

"Alright everybody!" Wendy shouted, "Quiet...quiet please!" she instructed and the humming voices fell silent.

"So, as everybody knows, Prom is only two weeks away!" she started, being temporarily drowned out by the squealing cheers from the girls and the few appreciative sounds from the guys. Carly clapped her hands together and danced on the spot as Adam moved behind her and linked his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her head.

"Ok, ok!" Wendy quieted them down again, "Based on your votes we've finally decided on a theme!" she continued, pausing for dramatic effect. The crowd remained silent and tense, everyone waiting in anticipation.

"Our theme this year will be...Red Carpet!" she announced and there were appreciative sounds from the crowd again, "We also have the nominees for Prom King and Queen!" she said, and the crowd fell silent in anticipation once more.

"Once I read out the names you will all be able to vote within the next week by filling in a form and placing it in the tally box that will be set up in the main hall. Please note that you an all only vote ONCE," she emphasized, "Any extra votes will not be counted. Now, let's have a look at our nomination for Prom King."

She flipped over one of her cue cards, scanning it quickly and smiling in appreciation.

"The nominees for Prom King are...Adam Price," she pointed over at Adam who squeezed Carly closer and smiled at all the girls who looked over at him, "Jake Krandall," Wendy continued, pointing over to the blonde who nodded from the direction of his locker, "And Kyle Jenson," she finished.

Sam hopped onto her tiptoes to look over the heads of the crowd, smiling over at Kyle who nodded sheepishly up at Wendy. She knew that the last thing he wanted was to be Prom King, but she would definitely support him all the way. He caught her eye and smiled; his modesty was clear by the redness in his cheeks. She smiled back at him and winked, trying to reassure him.

She felt a small tug at the back of her shirt, and she stepped down from her toes and fitted herself firmly against Freddie's body. He held onto her tightly for a few seconds before releasing her waist and stepping back a fraction of an inch. She looked back at him to see a serious look on his face and she smiled with realization.

"Jealous?" she asked him quietly.

"A little," he admitted, "Even though we're not exclusive you're still mine," he added before smiling, and she stuck her tongue out at him playfully. Their small exchange went unnoticed as Wendy started announcing the nominees for Prom Queen.

"...Carly Shay," she started, and Carly turned around to grab Sam's hand in excitement before smiling at everyone who now looked in their direction.

"Lauren Hing," Wendy continued, and Sam's fellow dancer smiled at everyone and winked in Kyle's direction. Sam had no doubt that Lauren had something to do with Kyle's name coming up for Prom King.

"And..." Wendy trailed off, her eyes widening slightly, "I can't believe it, but...Sam Puckett."

Sam froze, the entire halls eyes on her, the warmth of Freddie's body suddenly gone as he stepped away so as not to spark suspicion.

"Uh, no way does Momma want to be Prom Queen," Sam shook her head, "Who's idea of a joke was this?" she shouted at the hall and everyone immediately flinched away. No one messed with Sam Puckett. Sam glared at the hall as one by one everyone looked away and Wendy cleared her throat.

"Well," she broke the silence, "That's that! Please vote before the end of the week and remember to dress according to the theme!"

With that said everyone dispersed as they headed to their separate classes. Sam was still fuming about the fact that she was up for Prom Queen, so everyone gave her a wide berth.

"It's not that bad Sam!" Carly tried reassuring her, "It'll be fun, and you'll get your own tiara for the night and everything!"

"No!" Sam stomped her foot, "Did you nominate me Carly? Did you do this to me?"

"Well, I did put your name on the nomination list," she admitted, "But a lot of other people had to vote for you to make it into the top three..."

"Or," Freddie offered, "Someone just had to tap into the school system and bump you up a few places,"

Sam turned around to face him, her eyes wide with shock.

"_You_ did this!" she whispered angrily. Freddie shrugged, not intimidated by her anger in the slightest.

"You gave me a scar," he explained, pointing to his face, "Consider this a scar on your reputation."

"Freddie..." Sam scowled, stepping forward. Freddie's resolve faltered a little and he began to back away as he saw the flames brewing in the depths of her eyes.

"Now Sam..." Carly warned from behind her. Adam had disappeared – he was dead scared of Sam ever since she had forcefully tied him up with a cable at Webicon. Sam didn't wait for Carly to finish her sentence; she pounced forward and Freddie fled, Sam hot on his heels.

Carly shook her head as the two ran off, students pressing themselves up against lockers as they passed. She couldn't place her two best friends AT ALL. Two weeks ago she had convinced herself that they had feelings for each other and that they were perhaps sneaking around behind her back, but now she believed they were trying to kill each other. Sam had set Freddie alight twice this week and had almost seriously injured him with a golf club last week – he was lucky to only have come away with a scar.

It had seemed suspicious when she had followed Sam into Freddie's room two weeks ago – she had heard them talking quietly and had inched closer, closing her hand on the knob and preparing to burst in when they least expected it. When she had entered the room, convinced that she had caught them in the middle of an intimate moment, she was surprised to find that Sam had glued Freddie to the bedpost by seducing him. At least, that was what it seemed like since he was sprawled out on the bed, his cheeks red and his hair in disarray. She decided to keep a close eye on them over the next few weeks, but if they were sneaking around then they were hiding it very well. She also had no idea why Freddie would want to sneak around with Sam considering how much she was torturing him these days.

"I just voted for my Prom Queen," Adam whispered into her ear as he came up behind her, linking his arms around her waist and nuzzling his face in her neck. She smiled, all thoughts of her best fiends possible romance leaving her head as she absorbed herself in Adam's touch.

"Allow me to pay my Prom King the same courtesy," she muttered, turning her head and kissing him full on the lips as the bell for class rang. She pulled herself out of his grasp and skipped over to the tally box, checking her vote for Adam and adding her name to the card before placing it in the box. She paused before running to class and filled in a Prom Queen voting sheet as well after a split decision. Sam's ticked name sprang out at her one last time before she dropped it in the box and headed to English class with Adam.

XXXXXXX

"Why?" Sam asked again, tightening her grasp on Freddie's collar and slamming him against the wall again, "Of all the pranks, _why_ did you have to pull that one?"

Freddie smiled and rubbed the back of his head where it had made contact with the wall earlier.

"I think you'd make a gorgeous Prom Queen," he teased, and she slammed him backwards again, not amused by his teasing.

They were in one of the smaller school hallways, situated further away from all the classrooms. The only room nearby was the music room, and it was empty at the moment; the band was on a fieldtrip to another school. Everyone was in class at the moment, and no one would find them, but Sam needed to make sure.

She pulled him away from the wall and shoved him into the classroom, shutting the door behind them and pinning him against the door instead.

"I don't want to be Prom Queen!" Sam said, shaking him, "I'm not Prom Queen material, and it's not fair to take away another girls chances!"

"Hey, woah woah!" Freddie said, holding up his hands and indicating for her to stop, "Let me tell you the whole story first!"

"Fine," she said, letting go and moving to sit down on the piano bench, "Spill."

"I found out that Valerie was cheating," Freddie started, moving away from the door, "She sweet-talked another techie to hack into the school system and shift the votes around a little. She wanted to get rid of Carly and get herself chosen as Prom Queen instead," he explained.

"This doesn't explain why I'm suddenly getting nominated," Sam interrupted, impatient as usual.

"I'm getting there!" Freddie said, "So, I hacked into the system myself to set everything right again. Once I had Carly and Lauren in their rightful places I noticed that Valerie was still third on the list. I knew she had no chance of winning against Carly, but I still felt like she didn't really deserve to be up there after what she tried to do. Then..." he trailed off, "Then I saw who was in fourth place, with only two less votes than Valerie."

He nodded at Sam and her eyes went wide.

"I was fourth?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Freddie laughed, "It seems I'm not the only one who loves you," he smiled. "Anyway, I hadn't voted yet, so I added my vote into the system - for you of course - and I changed Gibby's vote from "Liquid Soap" to "Sam" instead. That tied you up and put you third by default because you're higher in the alphabet."

"Wow..." Sam sat back, "How could I be fourth? I tortured almost everyone in this school at least once..."

"Sam," Freddie said, shaking his head, "When are you going to realize that, no matter how much you hurt people and push them away, we all love you anyway? Especially me."

Sam smiled and allowed him to lean in for a kiss. She leant into the kiss and gave him a deep, heartfelt smooch before pulling away.

"Man..." she exclaimed again, "This means I could actually give Carly some competition? That's scary!"

Freddie laughed.

"Carly is no match for you," Freddie teased, "At least, not when it comes to stealing my heart..."

"Aw, you just had to ruin it by getting all mushy!" Sam exclaimed, pushing away from him and laughing.

"Sam," Freddie's tone changed from playful to serious all of a sudden, "What are we going to do about prom?"

"What about it?" Sam asked.

"Well..." he continued, "Should we go with other people? Or should we go as friends? It'll be obvious that we're together if we go to prom without an established "just friends" status.

"Oh..." Sam pondered, sitting up and frowning. She had never daydreamed about prom that much, but the few times she had pictured it, especially in the last two weeks, she and Freddie had been dancing together.

"I...want to go together." Sam said quietly, wringing her hands in her lap.

"Then we should wait until, like, the day before prom and then tell everyone we're going as friends," Freddie answered, "Because...we couldn't find anyone else to go with."

Sam's jaw twitched at this comment.

"I'm sure someone will ask me to go," she said coldly, "And there will be girls lining up for you too I'm sure."

Freddie laughed, standing up, "I highly doubt that," he said, stretching.

"Why?" Sam asked. She remained silent, allowing her mind to wonder as a thought occurred to her, "How high were you in the nominations for Prom King?" she asked.

Freddie laughed again, "Not that high..." he admitted, "Gibby was higher up than me."

Sam's eyes widened, "It's because no one told the school it was the nominations for _nub_ King and Queen," she teased again, "You and Valerie would have won that!"

Freddie stuck his tongue out at her and beckoned for her to stand up.

"Come on, we're so late for class it's not even funny."

XXXXXX

Please leave me a review on what you thought about the chapter, the idea for the sequel or even about the trailer for said sequel on YouTube! (though I appreciate YouTube comments too) =P

Toodles!


	18. Chapter 18: The problem with prom

_I said "Yo!" =D _

_Yay, a new Chapter from MEEE! _

_I LOVE this chapter and I really hope you like it too. ;) Time for some drama to hit the Seddie-ness!_

_Man, but I am STOKED for iOMG!_

_If you are stoked too then please review – talk about my story, Iomg OR JUST Seddie in general! MUST release the excitement! _

_Hugs!_

**Chapter Eighteen**

The problem with prom

"Mels!" Sam shouted as her sister rushed forward and embraced Sam in a giant hug.

Melanie's first semester was already over – their holidays came a little sooner than Ridgeway's did because they didn't have the concept of a "summer break". It was currently winter at Melanie's private girl's boarding school and they had a month vacation before their second semester. Sam would probably graduate a few months before her sister because of the different school systems.

"Aw, Sammy, I MISSED you!" Melanie squealed, hugging her sister tightly before moving on to give her mom an equally large hug.

Melanie hadn't been home for almost three years now; she had managed to find herself holiday jobs which had kept her busy along with the added advantage of saving for a plane ticket home. Although she was studying on a full scholarship at the pristine girl's school overseas, plane tickets home and back were not included in the package. Sam and her mom weren't in the most beneficial financial position – they barely managed to cover their bills let alone fly Melanie back and forth every holiday. Melanie had worked hard over the years to save some money to come and visit them. She had finally managed to save enough to get a ticket home, and Stephen – their mom's doctor boyfriend – was sponsoring her ticket back after the holidays.

Sam was happy to see her sister; even though she was on the other side of the planet she had still supported Sam fully when it came to her feelings for Freddie. Right now she was still the only one who knew, and Sam needed someone to talk to.

"Sammy," Melanie linked her arms with her sisters after she had greeted her mom tearfully and had loaded her bags onto a cart, "So, prom is this weekend?" she asked.

"Yeah," Sam replied, in a clear tone of disapproval.

"Uh-oh," Melanie gave her a worried look, "What's wrong? Are you and Freddie going together?"

"Yes," Sam said simply, "But no...not exactly..."

"Sam," Melanie stopped her, looking at her seriously, "Did he ask you or not?"

"No," Sam said, annoyed, "He hasn't asked me. We agreed that we were going to go 'as friends'. We're going to pretend that no one else has asked us and that we're just going together because it's convenient."

"What?" Melanie whispered urgently as their mom caught up to them, pushing Melanie's baggage cart, "Was that your idea?"

"No!" Sam said angrily. Freddie was making things so difficult for her. She was tired of sneaking around with him at school, at Carly's house – everywhere! She also wanted to hold his hand as they walked down the halls and give him a peck before they left for their separate classes; she wanted to be like the happy couples she saw everyday at school, and Freddie was refusing to budge. On top of that she had begun to feel like he didn't _want_ to be seen with her.

"So Freddie suggested it?" Melanie said in disbelief, "The numbskull," she added.

"I know, right?" Sam exclaimed, kicking at a stray chocolate wrapper which was lying on the floor of the airport.

"Well, when are you planning on telling people that you're going together 'as friends'?" Melanie asked.

"Either tomorrow or on Thursday," Sam said, "Freddie wants it to seem like a really last minute decision."

"He's really not taking your feelings into consideration here, is he?"

Sam shook her head.

"Have you told him that you want to go as a couple?"

Sam shook her head again and Melanie sighed.

"Sammy, guys are stupid when they come to these things," she explained, "We need to spell everything out for them or else they won't pick up on it at all. You need to talk to him about it before someone else asks you to go."

Sam remained silent, a guilty expression on her face. Melanie gasped.

"Someone else already asked you, didn't they?" she asked, bouncing up and down as they headed towards the parked car.

"Yes," Sam replied, "I haven't told Freddie yet. He seemed convinced that no one else would ask me, and this makes things so much more difficult!"

"What did you say to the guy who asked you?" Melanie asked, and Sam's guilty silence forced her to realize the obvious.

"More than one guy asked you?" she gasped again, and Sam nodded slowly.

"Well what did you say?" Melanie pressed on, and Sam shifted uncomfortably as she remembered the events of the previous two days.

"_See you later!" Freddie whispered, leaning forward and kissing her one last time. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in for more, but he broke the kiss and pushed away._

"_I'm going to be late Sam!" he complained, but he still hesitated to let go of her. Sam sighed, unwrapping her arms from around his neck and leaning backwards._

"_Fine, go be on time for you silly tech-boy meeting," she teased him._

_He groaned and leant forward again, kissing her greedily one last time before he let her go and snuck a peek through the glass of the classroom door. They were in the music room again – it was the only classroom that was slightly private in the entire school and they had dubbed it as their own whenever they had a moment to sneak off. Freddie had managed to get the band's schedule off one of his geeky friends so they would know when the room was empty and therefore wouldn't risk getting caught. _

_All seemed clear so Freddie let himself out, throwing Sam a smile before he ran off in the direction of the AV clubroom. Sam flopped down onto the piano bench as she counted backwards from sixty in her head. She and Freddie never left the music room together – it would be too suspicious if they both emerged from the same room with slightly reddened cheeks and disheveled hair. They had become experts at sneaking around, and Sam couldn't help but feel uneasy about it. She was constantly bunking classes and telling occasional white lies on a daily basis, but something about this sneaking around didn't feel right. She felt guilty that Carly was still in the dark about her two best friends' relationship, and it wasn't fair to her that Sam was still sneaking around with her ex-boyfriend._

_She finished counting down in her head and she stood up, preparing to leave the room and go see if there were any leftovers in the cafeteria after their Meatball Monday lunch. Just as she reached for the doorknob it turned and the classroom door creaked open as a single person entered. Sam froze, suddenly thankful that Freddie liked being punctual and hadn't stayed an extra minute to kiss her some more. She quickly smoothed down her hair and plastered a smile on her face when she saw who had entered the classroom._

"_Hey Kyle!" she greeted her dance partner, and he jumped a little. He hadn't noticed her yet because he had been pouring over a music sheet._

"_Sam!" he said in surprise, a smile pulling at his lips, "What are you doing here?"_

"_Oh," she waved her hand nonchalantly, trying to think up an excuse, "Just scouring the school for new places to pull pranks," she offered, mentally patting herself on her back. _

"_Ah," Kyle sounded in understanding, "A little trouble-maker as always," he chuckled. He made his way to the piano, placing his sheet music on the little stand and making to sit down. He paused, looking over at her suspiciously._

"_There are no pranks waiting for me as soon as I sit down right?" he asked, "No superglue or itching powder or something?"_

_Sam laughed, "No! Besides, I don't do itching powder. That's for amateurs."_

_Kyle breathed a sigh of relief and sat down, pulling himself closer to the keys._

"_You play?" she asked, moving away from the door and coming around to lean on the piano, watching him stretch his fingers._

"_You didn't know?" he was surprised, "I've played in a bunch of school concerts and stuff. If I can't get into Julliard for dance then I at least hope to get in for my music."_

"_I don't go to school concerts," Sam said without thinking, "They're so not cool."_

_She stopped herself, smiling apologetically._

"_I mean, um, it's awesome that you play and stuff, but...um,"_

"_Don't worry," Kyle shushed her, "I get it. I think they can be pretty boring sometimes myself."_

_He smiled at her again and Sam grinned in agreement._

"_You want to hear me play something?" he asked, "I promise I won't put you to sleep. I'm working on a more upbeat tune for my audition at Julliard."_

"_They've given you an audition?" Sam asked in surprise and he smiled again._

"_Yeah, for my music," he admitted, "I haven't heard anything about a dance scholarship, but it's better than nothing, right?"_

_Sam stepped towards him and pulled him into a tight hug._

"_It's brilliant Kyle!" she exclaimed, "Well done! I'm so proud of you!" _

_She pulled away from him and he cleared his throat a little; she noticed his cheeks were hot, but she shrugged it off and returned to her position at the other end of the piano._

"_So, show me what you got!" she urged him to play._

_Kyle didn't need any more encouragement; he launched into an upbeat piano tune that had Sam tapping her feet throughout the entire song. In her mind she pictured herself performing a dance routine to it, and she struggled to hold herself back from practicing it right then and there. _

_When he finished she applauded him quietly._

"_That's awesome!" she complimented him._

"_Thanks," he said, standing up, "It's not finished yet; I still need to add a few more bars, but I think it would do the trick." He smiled at her._

"_I actually came in here to practice,' cause I haven't been able to nail some of the notes. But I managed it with you watching me...:"_

_Sam laughed, "I must be your lucky charm then!" she joked._

"_Yeah..." Kyle trailed off, shuffling his feet. Sam noticed him step closer to her, the redness once again apparent in his cheeks._

"_Sam..." he started, "You know that I'm not out to find a girlfriend, right?"_

_Sam nodded, suddenly feeling nervous._

"_It's not just because I'm focusing on getting into college," he continued, "It's mostly because I hate the types of girls that are constantly flirting with me - those girls who care more about their appearance than about where they're going in life, or what they want out of it. I don't want a girlfriend because I convinced myself that all girls are pretentious in some way." _

_He shifted closer again._

"_But..." he paused, swallowing, "But then there's you Sam," he said, and she felt her heart jump into her throat. Oh no...this was exactly what she had feared would happen – not that Kyle would admit any feelings towards her, but rather that some guy that she liked would show interest in her and she would have to blow him off for a reason he would never be able to understand. She did like Kyle, and if he had maybe done this a month ago she would have probably agreed to go out with him, but things were different now that she knew how Freddie felt about her. Her thoughts were spinning so much that she almost missed what Kyle said next._

"_You're different from other girls Sam," he continued, reaching forward and taking her hand. She swallowed but didn't pull away. She didn't want to hurt his feelings. _

"_You don't care what people think of you and you don't flirt with every second guy who looks your way. You're beautiful and outspoken and the only person who makes me feel like I'm worth something."_

"_Kyle..." Sam interrupted him, but he stopped her._

"_I'm not asking you to be my girlfriend," Kyle interjected and Sam breathed a small sigh of relief, "I can't expect it of you. I'm leaving in the next few weeks for college and I can't expect you to stay here while I'm off on the other side of the country. But, Sam," he squeezed her hand, "Can you make my last night at Ridgeway worthwhile and please go to the prom with me?"_

_Sam was speechless. His speech was touching and she felt her chest swell with mixed feelings of pain and admiration. She wanted to say yes – she cared for him and he had been a brilliant dance partner throughout the last year. She had every reason to say yes – Freddie hadn't asked her to the prom yet, and he wanted to go as friends if no one else asked them. Well, here was a guy who was holding her hand and asking her in the most sincere manner she knew possible. But the thought of Freddie at prom with another girl almost tore her heart in two and she shook the image away and opened her mouth to answer._

"_I..." she started. She didn't want to hurt him. She couldn't hurt him.. "I..." she said again, "I'll...think about it..." she finally answered him._

_Kyle's face fell and she wanted to throw her arms around him and tell him how sorry she was._

"_You...don't want to go with me?" he asked simply, letting go of her hand and stepping back._

"_No, no, I do!" Sam said without thinking, stepping forward and grabbing his arm as he tried to turn around, "It's just..." she trailed off, "Someone else has kind of asked me already..." she admitted._

"_And you haven't given him an answer yet either?" Kyle guessed and Sam shook her head._

_He smiled at her and reached forward, running his thumb along her jaw as a sign of understanding. _

"_Let me know when you decide, okay?" he whispered, removing his hand and backing away, picking up his music sheets, "But not too late; I'll need to find another date before there's no one left," he joked._

_He reached for the door knob and opened it, but before he left he looked back one last time._

"_Sam," he muttered and she indicated that she was listening, "I meant what I said," he stated, "I hope that we can meet up again in the future."_

_With that said he left and shut the door behind him, leaving Sam to sink back onto the piano bench, her head in her hands. Things would be so much easier if she and Freddie were publically dating. Her heart clenched with sadness; she was scared that she would lose her friendship with Kyle if this turned out badly. _

"Wow," Melanie said breathlessly, adding another shiny coat of purple nail polish to Sam's toes, "I want to meet this Kyle! He sounds like he's really in love with you!"

"Not helping Mels...: Sam moaned, leaning back into the pillows on Melanie's bed and sighing, "What am I going to do?"

"You _need_ to talk to Freddie about this Sam," Melanie said for the tenth time that day, pointing the brush in her direction, "He's the only one who can put Kyle in his place and tell him that he asked you first."

"Yeah, but it'll really hurt Kyle if Freddie and I go to the prom together as 'only friends'," Sam pointed out, "Because it would mean that I don't value Kyle's friendship at all. And he knows that I 'hate' Freddie because of the pranks I pull on him," she finished, using air quotes where necessary.

"Hmmm..." Melanie muttered, sticking her tongue out as she painted Sam's baby toe, "That would be a problem," she agreed.

Sam sighed again and fell back into her pillows once more.

"Wait," Melanie poked her, "Who was the other guy that asked you?"

Sam groaned and pulled another of Melanie's pillows over her face, "Gibby..." she grunted and Melanie giggled.

"_Sammy-o," Sam heard behind her, and she turned from her locker to see Gibby standing there with a white rose in his hand._

"_What's up Gib?" she greeted him, eying the rose, "What's with the flower?" she asked him._

"_It's for you," Gibby answered, handing her the rose. She took it reluctantly._

"_Okay..." she was confused, "And this is for?"_

"_Well," Gibby started, "A few years back you were kind enough to ask me to the girls choice dance in order to save me from the public humiliation of not going, or going alone. So, I figured I would repay you one day, and this is that day." _

"_Huh?" Sam mumbled, feeling insulted._

"_Sam," Gibby said seriously, making Sam resist the urge to laugh, "Please go to the prom with me?"_

"_What!" she burst out, not believing what she was hearing. _

"_I notice no one else has asked you," Gibby pointed out, "And Tasha is out of town that weekend, so she said it would be cool if you and I went together," he explained, "This way we won't be alone on prom night."_

_Sam laughed and handed Gibby his rose back, "Sorry Gib," she said, patting him on the shoulder, "But, just like you did last time, I'm turning you down. Go ask some other lonely girl to be your date."_

_She slammed her locker shut and walked off towards class, leaving Gibby standing alone with the rose in hand._

"_Nice..." he muttered, "I can't believe she turned me down!"_

Melanie continued to laugh throughout Sam's story, just as surprised by Gibby's proposal as Sam had been.

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about him!" she pointed out and Sam smiled. Ah Gibby...

"Yeah," she agreed, "But what am I going to do about Freddie and Kyle? Prom is in four days time!"

"We'll figure it out," Melanie blew on Sam's toes, "First off you need to talk to Freddie about going to prom as a couple. If that doesn't work out then we'll work on a new plan. But..." she stood up, stretching her arms over her head, "While you're sorting that out allow me to work on your look for prom, okay?"

"Sure Mels," Sam smiled, "I wouldn't have it any other way..."

XXXXXX

"Freddie..." Sam said softly, stretching her neck away from the kisses he was planting there. They were on the couch in his living room, the door to the apartment locked in case Carly decided to sneak up on them again. They had planned to watch a movie together, but halfway through Sam had gotten bored and had begun poking Freddie relentlessly. He had rebutted by seducing her, kissing her neck until she shivered and her skin erupted in goosebumps.

"Hmm?" he mumbled into her neck, causing her to shiver again.

"I want to talk to you about prom..." Sam said, trying her best not to give in to his advancements.

Freddie's kisses paused as he looked up at her, his eyes already sparkling with lust for the blonde beauty before him.

"I'm listening," he indicated before returning to kissing her neck and shoulders.

"I don't want to go as friends," she said, getting straight to the point before she changed her mind.

Freddie stopped again and sat up so he could look directly at her.

"What?"

"I want to go as a couple," she said more clearly, "I want people to know that we're together."

"Sam..." Freddie said softly, "It's not the right time..."

"Why not?" Sam said, immediately annoyed. They had discussed the possibility of going public with their relationship before, and every time Freddie had managed to find a reason not to do it.

"It would seem wrong if we started dating now," he explained, "You're running for Prom Queen! If we were to start dating now people would think I'm only into you because of the Prom Queen thing."

Sam's mouth fell open in disbelief, but she shut it almost immediately again.

"That's ridiculous!" she shouted, standing up abruptly, "That's the stupidest excuse I've ever heard!"

"But its true Sam," Freddie said, standing up as well, "I told you that I don't want everyone to see you as another Carly in this relationship, and that's what I'm trying to avoid!"

"I'm not Carly!" Sam shouted back at him, her anger reaching boiling point, "You didn't worry about what people would say about you and Carly suddenly dating, so why do care what they think now?"

"I don't want to make the same mistake!" Freddie emphasized.

"Why don't you want people to know about us?" Sam said, close to tears, "Every time we talk about going public you have a new excuse. Do you want to date me or not Freddie?"

"Sam..." Freddie trailed off in disbelief, "Of course I want to date you! I love you! I thought I proved that to you already?"

"No you haven't!" Sam insisted, "You haven't even asked me to prom yet! We haven't gone on another date since our first one! All we do is sneak into classrooms and lie to our friends!"

"I'm sorry Sam..." Freddie apologized, stepping forward to take her hands, "I know this is difficult, but please understand that I want this to work out. I don't want to make any stupid choices this time."

Sam sniffed, forcing her tears back and taking a deep breath. She was going to push for this if she had to.

"I want to go to prom as a couple," she said again, "And I'm not taking no for an answer."

Freddie's expression darkened at her tone, "You can't push me on this Sam," he warned her, "You mean the world to me and I'm not going to lose you. I want people to know as well! I want to hold your hand at school and tell the whole world that you're mine, but trust me when I say that this isn't the right time."

Sam scowled at him and pulled her hands out of his grasp, "And what am I supposed to say to the other guys that ask me to prom before you do?" she asked coldly.

"Just tell them we're already going as friends," Freddie shrugged, "You already told Gibby off, so what's the big deal?"

Sam spun around, pointing her finger in his face.

"Do you think there are no other guys who would want to go with me?" she shouted accusingly, "Do you think that me going with you because no one else asked me seems normal? What if there are other guys that I like Freddie? What if someone happens to ask me and I don't want to say no to them?"

She took a deep breath, her hands shaking and she balled them into fists as Freddie stared at her, clearly hurt.

"Do you want to go with someone else?" he asked her quietly.

"Well, you haven't exactly asked me Freddie!" Sam pointed out.

"I didn't think I had to!" he said in annoyance, "I thought it was obvious that we were going together since I kiss you almost every day!"

"Yeah..." Sam shook her head, backing away, "You know, it _would_ be obvious that we were going together if we were actually _dating_, Freddie," she said in a sarcastic tone.

"We are!" Freddie said, rushing forward and trying to grab her arm.

"I know that!" Sam spat him, "And you know it! But they don't!" she motioned her arm in the direction of outside, indicating the world at large, "And _that_ is what makes this unbearable! It would be easy to tell someone that I'm going to prom with my boyfriend, but no...I have to lie. There are some people in this world that I don't want to hurt Freddie, and that is what all this lying is doing. Carly will be hurt when she finds out we've already been dating a month, and she's not the only one!"

"Did someone besides Gibby ask you to the prom?" Freddie demanded, holding onto her arm firmly, "Did they?"

"What does it matter?" Sam said, pulling her arm from his grip, "We're going as friends aren't we? So it's not like I can say yes anyway."

"If you want to go with someone else then go!" Freddie shouted at her as she reached for the door handle to let herself out. She froze, caching her breath. She had never heard Freddie this angry or this hurt before and it tore her up inside. She turned to look at him, flinching under his glare. She yanked the door open and prepared to leave.

"Fine," Sam said stubbornly, "Maybe I will."

She slammed the door behind her.

XXXXXXX

_Please review and revel in the Seddie-ness with me! *squeals*_


	19. Chapter 19: Mel to the rescue!

_Hey! Okay, I HAD to update this before I left for my little week holiday to the BEACH! Sooooooo excited! Enjoy, next chapter will be up once I'm back and have time to write…don't hate me for the ending!_

_Please remember to review! Show me some lovin'!_

_XXXXXXXX_

**Chapter Nineteen**

Mel to the rescue

Freddie's phone rang just as he finished his shower. He threw a towel around his waist and fastened it securely before he answered it. He didn't recognize the number so he hesitated slightly before answering.

"Hello?"

"Hello Freddie, its Melanie speaking," he heard someone who sounded a lot like Sam say. He narrowed his eyes.

"I swear that I'm not Sam who's trying to play a trick on you," she sighed before he could speak, "I'm sure she told you that I would be coming to town for the holidays, right?"

"Yeah..." Freddie said, still uncertain about whether it was Sam on the line or not, "But how do I really know that you're Melanie?"

Melanie sighed again. She had obviously expected some hostility from him because her tone was one of annoyance.

"I honestly cannot understand you and Sam," she mumbled more to herself than to him, "You're so in love with one another, but you haven't an ounce of trust. Listen Freddie, Sam is locked up in her room at the moment. She told me about your fight but she insists on being alone right now. I need to come and talk to you. Are you free sometime tonight?"

"Uh...sure," Freddie said, shocked by the news Melanie had given him, "We can meet at the Groovy Smoothie in twenty minutes if that's alright?"

"Perfect," Melanie agreed, "See you then."

The phone went dead and Freddie stared at it for a few seconds. He was still fuming about his fight with Sam, and he was sure she was still doing the same. She wouldn't play a prank like this on him when she was upset with him, so he was certain it must have been Melanie that had called him. He wasn't in the mood to talk about Sam just then, but he knew being alone right now wouldn't do him any good either.

He sighed and dropped his towel, changing into jeans and a tight black shirt that he normally only wore when he went out to the under-twenty one dance club with his other tech friends.

Fifteen minutes later he entered the Groovy Smoothie, the tinkling of the little bell causing a few people to look his way. He recognized a few students from Ridgeway and he smiled over at the girls that waved his way. Freddie was normally very unpopular with the girls, but there were always a few that showed interest in him when the dance season came around. He guessed he wasn't too bad looking, but girls tended to overlook him because he was always with Carly and Sam. He had heard from Gibby that many of them were convinced that he was dating one of them, and they weren't entirely wrong.

He took a seat at his usual table and called an order over to T-Bo who was juicing an orange at the counter.

"Hey, T-Bo, a Blueberry Blitz please!" Freddie called, and then he paused, trying to think about what he should order Melanie, "And a Strawberry Splat too!" he added after some thought.

"Coming up Fred-o!" T-Bo called back at him and got to work preparing the smoothies. Freddie drummed his fingers on the counter for a few minutes as he waited for Melanie to arrive. He didn't wait too long; the bell tinkled and Sam's twin sister entered, handbag over her shoulder and hair hanging attractively in a side plait. He stood up as she neared his table.

"Hey Freddie!" Melanie greeted him, hugging him tightly and taking a seat across from him.

"Hey," Freddie offered, smiling slightly as her sweet perfume intoxicated him. He remembered this perfume – his blue-striped shirt smelt strongly of it for days after his kiss with Melanie, "Nice to officially meet you," he added.

Melanie giggled, "It is nice to not be mistaken for Sam this time," she agreed, "How are you?"

"Good I guess..." Freddie said just as T-Bo arrived with their smoothies.

"Blueberry for the boy," T-Bo said animatedly, "And strawberry for the sister," he finished.

"Oh, this is my favourite flavor!" Melanie exclaimed as she sipped her smoothie, "How'd you know?" she asked Freddie, who shrugged.

"Lucky guess," he replied.

They sipped their smoothies in silence for a few seconds, and Freddie realized that he felt a little awkward having smoothies with Sam's sister after the way they had fought earlier. The last time he had seen her he had also been terribly rude because he was convinced she was Sam.

"Um…" Freddie started, feeling uncomfortable, "About the last time you were here,"

"Yeah?" Melanie indicated she was listening, wiping a strand of hair from her eyes.

"I'm sorry I was so rude to you,' he apologized, "I just thought Sam was messing with me and if I had known that you were, you know, real…I still feel bad about being so rude."

Melanie stopped sipping her smoothie, sending a small smile of recognition his way.

"I really did like you, you know?" she said quietly, and Freddie's heart gave a small beat of fear. The last thing he needed now was for Sam and Melanie to have a fight over their feelings for him. He didn't feel that he deserved either of their affections.

"But," Melanie continued, "I'm glad that things happened the way they did. I don't think Sam would ever have admitted her feelings for you if you had found out who I was back then."

Freddie sighed, "I think if we had met in different circumstances I really would have liked to date you," he admitted.

"Oh really," Melanie said flirtatiously, leaning forward and batting her eyelids seductively. Freddie felt intoxicated by her perfume again and he leaned back slightly, clearing his throat. Melanie leant back with a laugh.

"You're sweet, but I don't do long-distance relationships," she indicated, "Besides, you would have broken up with me for Carly or, more importantly, Sam eventually."

"No I wouldn't have…" he said quietly. Melanie laughed again.

"Besides, Sam would never have begun to date you if we had dated before. Sister Code runs even deeper than Girl Code." She winked.

Freddie smiled, reaching for his smoothie and sipping at it, glad the awkwardness between them had vanished.

"So," Melanie said, adopting what Freddie was sure to be her 'business' voice, "I need to talk to you about Sam, but first I need to do this."

She pushed her smoothie away and leant forward, fisting her hand and knocking her knuckles against Freddie's head.

"Ow!" Freddie said, pulling away. Even though Melanie was Sam's sister she could hit him just as hard as her twin, "What was that for?" he asked, annoyed.

"For being a complete and utter _numbskull_, Freddie Benson!" Melanie said, sitting back and smoothing out her shirt.

"What? Why?" he asked.

"Listen," Melanie ignored his retorts, leaning forward and stealing a quick sip from her smoothie, "You and Sam are in love! So what's with the whole 'let's keep it a secret thing', huh?"

Freddie sighed. He didn't want to have this argument again.

"I'm sure Sam has told you my reasons," he said, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

"Yes," Melanie nodded, "And I understand them."

"You do?" Freddie said in disbelief.

"Yes, I do," Melanie repeated, "And so does Sam. She understands your reasons so well that she is willing to lie to her best friend and sneak around with you behind everyone's backs."

Freddie remained silent, knowing that Melanie was right and not wanting to admit it.

"She was also all for going to prom as 'just friends'," Melanie continued, "But that changed a few days ago."

"I noticed..." Freddie said coldly and Melanie glared at him in a very Sam-like manner.

"Just keep listening Freddie," she warned him, picking up her fist and waving it in his direction. Freddie made a motion of locking his lips and throwing the key away.

"Someone asked her to the prom," Melanie said slowly, "Not just any guy...from what I can gather Sam is really close to him. She admitted herself that if he had asked her a month earlier she would have said yes without a second thought. She was convinced that you didn't feel the same way about her, Freddie."

Melanie reached over and grasped his hand, a sad smile playing at her lips.

"He was very sincere about it, and Sam really doesn't want to lose him as a friend," she continued, "She didn't blow him off. She told him that someone else has already asked her and she'll have to decide who to say yes to. She has pressure on her from both sides."

Freddie listened intently, upset that Sam hadn't told her this himself. He must have been easy to read because Melanie reached over and squeezed his hand again.

"She didn't want to hurt your feelings by telling you this," she offered, "And she would never tell you if it meant losing you. She doesn't want to lose him, Freddie, but she can't bear to lose you either. She won't say yes to him – she's planning on turning him down tomorrow and keeping to your arrangement of going as friends. The question is: Do you think it's fair to her, Freddie?"

She pulled her hand away and waited for him to answer her. Freddie swallowed, feeling guilty for what he was doing to Sam.

"She's willing to sacrifice a close friend, Carly's friendship...everything for me," he stated, swirling the contents of his smoothie around, "I'm being stubborn about this, aren't I?" he asked.

Melanie nodded slightly, "We both understand your reasons," she said again, "But please realize that the only way Sam will be able to keep those who are close to her is by being honest."

Freddie nodded, realizing that he was being a real...numbskull as Melanie would put it. Melanie clapped his hands together at Freddie's agreement.

"Great!" she said, the atmosphere changing from one of discomfort to one of excitement, "Now, since you're willing to go public you need to do it properly!"

"Wait, I can't just tell Sam privately can I?" Freddie asked, afraid of the wheels that were already turning in Melanie's head. She scoffed.

"Freddie, it's time everyone knows," she smiled, "How opposed are you to some public affection?"

XXXXXXX

"There," Sam said to herself, pushing the piece of paper through the locker grate and sighing. He would get the note sometime during the morning and she would meet him at lunch with her decision of what to do. She still didn't know what she was going to say to him, but she still had plenty of time to think it over.

Sam had been up all night pondering whether she was going to be a good girlfriend and go with Freddie to the prom despite their fight or whether she was going to be the Sam Puckett she knew herself to be. Would she follow Freddie's advice and go with someone else instead? She knew he hadn't meant it when he said it, but a part of her was still angry with him and wanted to hurt him some more. For once she didn't want to inflict physical pain on Freddie, but emotional pain instead.

They hadn't exactly broken up, but they hadn't spoken since the fight either. Sam had avoided the main hallway at all costs when she arrived that morning, quickly snatching her books from her locker and heading immediately to homeroom. She had kept her eyes trained forward all lesson, not looking back when she heard Freddie take his seat behind her and trying her best to ignore his presence. She had left just as quickly, shrugging off his arm when she felt it brush her elbow, trying to stop her in her haste to leave.

"Sam!" Freddie had shouted after her, but she ignored him and fled to her next class, thankful that it was Freddie-free. Carly had eyed her suspiciously throughout the morning, but gathered that it was safer to not ask what was up between them.

"So..." Carly started as she took her usual seat next to Sam in their next class, "Do you have a date to prom yet Sam?"

Sam winced inwardly. Unfortunately Carly had the knack of hitting the problem spot on without even trying.

"No," Sam answered truthfully.

"Man, what is it with the guys at this school?" Carly said with irritation, "They're all a bunch of cowards for not asking you to the prom. Gibby has more courage than all of them!"

"Yeah," Sam said in recognition, placing her chin in her hand and propping her elbow onto the desk, "But Gib is pretty used to me by now."

"Why don't you just go with him?" Carly asked, leaning forward with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Ugh," Sam moaned in response, "Like that's going to happen. Why'd he ask me anyway? Shouldn't he be taking Tasha?"

"Ah," Carly shrugged guiltily, "The two of them are kind of on a break...Gibby was complaining about it to me yesterday. Apparently he isn't up for being 'exclusive' about her, but she's pushing for them to be more of a couple. She wants him to involve her more with his friends, but he likes keeping the two separate. They're constantly fighting about it."

"Man," Sam said without thinking, leaning back in her seat, "What is it with guys these days? Why is being exclusive with girls such a big deal to them?"

"I don't know," Carly shrugged, "Why, do you know of another couple with the same trouble?"

"Oh yeah!" Sam sighed roughly.

"Who?" Carly asked, obviously curious.

"Oh, um..." Sam started, racking her brains for a cover story. Why did she have to sneak her own problems into their conversation?

"I, um, I just had the same problem with Pete when we dated," she fibbed, "He just wanted something casual, and it bothered me."

"Oh," Carly said thoughtfully, "I didn't think he was like that...but relationships like that never work out."

"No chizz," Sam agreed, thinking of her fight with Freddie the previous day.

"Luckily Adam doesn't have silly notions like that," Carly gushed, "He's the _perfect_ boyfriend!"

Sam was saved from having to remark on Carly's "perfect" relationship with Adam by the arrival of Mr. Howard, who scowled at the class before beginning the lesson.

XXXXXXX

"Sam!" Freddie shouted after the mess of blonde curls that was pushing its way through the crowd in the main hallway. She looked around, distracted by the sound of her name. As soon as she saw that it was him calling her she narrowed her eyes and whipped her head around again, storming on with more determination. Freddie looked ahead and saw Kyle standing at his locker, Sam only a few more steps away from him.

He rushed forward, pushing people out of his way to reach her on time. He caught up fast, using the path Sam had already cut herself in the crowd to his advantage and he grabbed her elbow, yanking her towards him just as she opened her mouth to greet Kyle. He hadn't seen her yet, and Freddie pulled her away and into the nearest classroom as quickly as he could.

"Let go Freddie!" Sam shouted at him, trying to break his grip on her arm. Lunchtime at Ridgeway was always chaos as students poured towards the cafeteria to get their food before heading out to separate spots around the school to socialize with their friends. Sam had planned to see Kyle at lunch, leaving a note in his locker earlier that morning to inform that he would be getting his answer today.

"No," Freddie replied stubbornly, yanking her into the classroom and shutting the door behind them. As soon as the door shut Sam fought tooth and nail for her freedom, clawing at Freddie's arm and kicking at his shins.

"Stop it Sam!" he instructed as he dodged her flying feet. He pushed her into the wall and held her arms up above her head, pinning his body to hers so that she was unable to move. She glared at him, irritated that he had been able to overpower her.

"What is it?" she spat at him, wriggling beneath his form but unable to break his grasp on her wrists.

"I just want to talk to you," he answered, pushing himself more firmly against her. Sam let out a gasp as he forced the breath out of her lungs.

"And you need to suffocate me to do it?" she threw at him.

"Well you're the one who refuses to stand still," he countered her argument. Sam remained quiet, giving him another glare.

"I don't have time to talk to you," she said calmly, but a bite was heard behind her words nonetheless, "I'm on my way to meet Kyle."

"Your dance partner?" Freddie questioned.

"What's it to you?"

"I'm your _boyfriend_," he emphasized, "So it has ALOT to do with me if you're planning on seeing another guy instead of me."

"We fought about this already," Sam said, "You know how I feel about this. I'm just following your advice – I'm going with someone else to prom. I'm going with Kyle."

Freddie's grasp loosened a little out of shock, but Sam didn't fight him off. She was too focused on the flash of hurt and betrayal that crossed his face.

"You...you do want to go with someone else then?" he asked softly, shifting away from her slightly.

"Well, you said I should," she said just as quietly, trying to make him feel guilty. She wanted to have him beg for her forgiveness – she was being manipulative, and a little selfish too, but she had been deeply hurt by their fight and she wanted to have him feel as bad as she did.

Freddie seemed defeated. He pulled away from her, leaving her wrists. She dropped her arms and rubbed her one wrist in her hand; he had grasped her firmly and she knew she would probably be bruised in the morning. She had never seen him that angry, or this defeated before and she was scared by it.

"You want to break up?" he almost whispered and her head shot up as her fear intensified.

'_No!' _her heart screamed at her, but the stubborn Sam was poking at it with a pitchfork of pride. She needed to stand her ground.

"We were never really a..." she started, turning away as a sob caught in her throat, "...couple!" she ended, her voice breaking as she forced the sudden tears back. She reached for the door handle, unable to look at Freddie's face, when she felt his hands grab her roughly by the shoulders and spin her around to face him. She shouted in surprise as she was slammed against the wall again. Was he angry with her? Was he going to shout at her and tell her what a terrible person she was being? God, she needed it. She needed him to tell her that she was being an idiot and that he would fight for her and that he loved her.

Freddie's lips crashed against hers instead, seeking her kiss greedily. He pushed up against her again, his hands gripping her waist firmly, pulling her as close as she could come. She gasped into his mouth as he forced her lips apart, his tongue showing her how strongly he felt for her – how desperately he needed her. She surrendered to his touch, her arms wrapping around his neck, her fingers tangling themselves in his short hair as she kissed him back with as much ferocity as she could muster. She bit his bottom lip and he groaned into her mouth, kissing her again and not allowing her to pull away. As if she wanted to!

Their breathing became heavy as they kissed; Freddie abandoned Sam's mouth and he worked his mouth into her neck, kissing and inhaling her scent. Sam felt goosebumps erupt all over her skin and she nibbled at Freddie's earlobe as she whined at the sensitive sensation. He moved back to her mouth, his hands pulling at her shirt. She showed no protest and he hoisted her shirt up, exposing her stomach. He ran his hands along her bare back underneath her shirt and she did the same under his. They were lost in the moment, all thoughts of being angry at each other gone.

The sound of the classroom door opening shocked both of them and they leapt apart, adjusting their shirts accordingly.

"Sam?" Carly called as she entered the classroom, looking in and seeing her two best friends staring at her in fear. Sam's hair was messier than usual and both their cheeks were flushed. Freddie's shirt was hanging loosely off one of his shoulders, his jacket lying abandoned on the floor. Her eyes went wide as she noticed the love bite taking form on Sam's collar line.

"What?" she said in disbelief, "What were you two?" she tried, her mind freezing in shock."

"Carly!" Freddie half shouted as he saw her putting the facts together, "It's not what it looks like!"

Sam glared over at him as he tried to cover up what Carly had just walked in on.

"Yes, it is what it looks like!" she shouted over at him, and he glanced at her with increased fear. Carly looked over at her with wide eyes, a hundred questions flickering through them.

"This was a mistake..." Sam uttered, picking up her backpack which had fallen earlier when Freddie had pinned her to the wall and making her way towards Carly, "Freddie will explain," she said to her friend reassuringly, "I've got to get myself a date to prom. Excuse me."

With that said she left, pausing to give Freddie one last look of disappointment before her curls whipped around the corner.

"Freddie?" Carly questioned, staring after her friend, "Where is she going?"

Freddie shook his head, pulling at his shirt before bending over to retrieve his jacket.

"She's about to make a huge mistake," he said, throwing his jacket over his shoulder followed by his backpack, "I need your help Carly. Come on, I'll tell you about everything while we run."

XXXXXXX

"You and Sam are DATING?" Carly shouted as thy skidded to a halt outside Ms. Briggs office, Freddie puffing with the effort it took to talk and run at the same time, "And you DIDN'T TELL ME?" she half shrieked.

"Yes," Freddie huffed, "But we were planning on telling you soon. I was planing on it today in fact," he added.

"This is why Sam was acting so different lately!" Carly exclaimed, "I can't believe you guys didn't trust me enough to tell me!"

"It wasn't that they didn't trust you!" they heard behind them. Melanie had arrived right on time, dressed in a pair of tight faded jeans and a form hugging black shirt.

"Melanie!" Carly exclaimed, "You knew?"

"Yes," Melanie admitted guiltily, "But only because I unknowingly stepped deep into Sam's territory," she added.

"I can't believe-" Carly started again, but Melanie cut her off.

"Look, I know you're upset!" Melanie said, stepping forward and shaking Carly lightly by the shoulders, "But right now we need to keep Sam and Freddie together. Sam is about to do something she's going to regret for a long time!"

"W-what?" Carly asked, perplexed.

"You knew she was planning on asking Kyle?" Freddie asked in disbelief.

"I found out only this morning," she indicated, "I knew she would wait until lunchtime to do it, which is why I reformulated our plan."

"How?" Freddie asked.

"What's going on?" Carly demanded, stepping between them, "What's Sam about to do?"

Freddie sighed and said as calmly and quickly as possible: "Sam is about to accept Kyle's offer to go to prom with him because she's upset with me. She's upset with me because I didn't want people to know about us yet, but she was tired of lying about it. When you walked in on us earlier we were, well...making up, but she got angry as soon as I tried to cover it up again."

"So now," Melanie interjected, "We need to stop Sam. She's going to be stubborn about it, and it's not going to be easy to dissuade her, but we know her weakness."

"Weakness?" Carly asked.

"As soon as Freddie admits that they're a couple to EVERYONE," Melanie emphasized, "Sam will melt. So, Freddie's job is to sweep her off her feet all over again...except this time everyone is going to know about it."

"And you need our help because..."Carly trailed off, already forgetting that she was angry with them for keeping their relationship a secret. She was too swept up in the excitement of the romantic plan that was taking form.

"Well, someone needs to get Sam away from Carly," Melanie said slyly, pointing at Carly, "And someone needs to keep him distracted while Freddie does his thing," she pointed to herself.

"How-" Carly started.

"Ugh, you ask to many questions!"Melanie said dramatically, taking Carly by the elbow and pulling her away, "Freddie, do what we discussed last night – I'll handle the rest!"

"Gotcha!" Freddie shouted after them as they ran down the hallway towards the cafeteria area. He turned to face Ms Briggs office door, taking a deep breath as he braced himself for what he was about to do. Sam had better appreciate it!

_XXXXXX_

_Don't forget to follow me on YouTube (IamMuchan7) and Twitter (Nix_Heyns) for updates! Mwaz!_


	20. Chapter 20: Didn't expect that!

_Hellooooooo all! Yes, FINALLY I am updating…this is a super long chapter and it is also the end of The Kiss that Changed it All! I know I know, it sucks, but for those of you who don't know yet, this story will be continuing in The Year that Changed it All! ;) Keep your eyes peeled for it! _

_So, let me know if this chapter was worth the wait and leave me a review!_

**Chapter Twenty**

Didn't expect that

"So, how is it that you knew about this before I did?" Carly asked between breaths as they ran through the near-empty hallways, searching for Sam and Kyle. Melanie sighed at her question, pulling a blue checkered shirt from the large purse she had slung over her shoulder.

"I told you," she answered, pulling the shirt on over her tight black top, "I had a thing for Freddie a long time ago – the last time I came to visit in fact – and he still thought I was Sam back then. I over-stepped boundaries when I kissed him, and when Sam found out I actually was interested in dating him her secret came out. She's liked him _forever_ Carly..."

"W-What?" Carly stammered, dodging a group of guys that were huddling around a dodgy-looking magazine in the hallway, "That's impossible! She's always hated him. Since day one."

"Wrong," Melanie disagreed with her, "She's _liked_ him from day one. She's also been hiding the fact that she liked him since day one."

"Why?" Carly asked in confusion, "Why did she hide it?"

Melanie gave her an "_Are you serious?" _look as they slowed to a walk. They had reached the main hallway where there were a lot more students to run into if they weren't careful.

"Oh..." Carly said quietly as she realized what Melanie meant, "It was because he liked me...and because I warned her about the girl code."

"The need to keep her feelings a secret increased," Melanie added, pulling her hair out of the tight ponytail she normally wore it in and fluffing it out, "After your romantic relationship with Freddie took form and you started dating. It got worse after that-"

"Because Freddie now qualified as my ex-boyfriend..." Carly cut her off, "And ex-boyfriends are off-limits. Oh!" Carly exclaimed, dropping her forehead into her palm, "I'm such an idiot! That's why she was asking me all those questions the other day!"

"Look, we can talk about all of this later," Melanie said, grabbing Carly by the arm and yanking her behind a set of lockers, "Right now we need to save Sam and Freddie's relationship! You know how stubborn Sam can be, and she's about to make a stupid mistake because of her pride."

Melanie turned Carly towards the large window that looked out at the courtyard where many of the students ate lunch together. Sam was making her way slowly towards Kyle who was standing at a water fountain, waiting to get a drink.

"Okay," Carly nodded her head, "What do you want me to do?"

"Distract Kyle somehow," Melanie said, an intense look in her eyes, "Then get Sam away from him and back in the main hallway. Freddie will do the rest from there."

"And what if Kyle follows us somehow?" Carly asked, worried at how well this plan would work.

"That's what I'm here for," Melanie gestured towards her clothes. Carly eyed her up and down, wondering why she had changed her appearance while they had been running. She glanced back at Sam through the window and then looked back at Melanie with a gasp.

"You look almost exactly like Sam!" Carly exclaimed, "You're going to keep Kyle away because he's going to think he's talking to Sam anyway!"

"And this way Sam doesn't have to hurt Kyle, or Freddie," Melanie said proudly, "Being a twin has its advantages."

A sound caught their attention from behind and they both turned to discover the source. It sounded like someone was shouting through a bullhorn, and that person sounded very much like Freddie.

"What is he doing?" Carly asked in disbelief. Melanie smiled knowingly.

"Giving us our signal," she stood up, shaking out her hair once more, "Time to make Seddie official!"

XXXXXXX

"_I hope Carly got Spencer to sign the contract," Freddie said as they entered the elevator and stood next to each other, leaning against the back wall._

"_Yeah," Sam agreed, "I had to hammer through that brick wall in my locker for three days before it was all out!"_

"_He pranked Simone really badly too," Freddie added, "I think it was meant for me, but she got it instead."_

"_What happened?" she asked, a prickling feeling starting at the bottom of her stomach._

"_He planted a tarantula in the front pocket of my backpack," he replied, "But Simone wanted to get my stapler out of my backpack and she unzipped it and found the thing instead."_

"_Did she scream?" she asked, taking pleasure in the other girls fear at the spider. She wouldn't have screamed at all – she would have just whacked it with the nearest thing she could find. _

"_She was terrified," Freddie said, "She's dead scared of spiders. I felt so bad about it that I spent the next hour with her crying on my shoulder."_

_The prickly feeling reared up in Sam's stomach again, and she recognized it as jealousy._

"_Poor girl," Sam said, trying to hide her feelings again,"I would have cried too if I was forced to spend an hour with you."_

"_Oh, stop it Sam," Freddie bit back at her, "She mustn't have minded it, 'cause we're going to see a movie together this weekend sometime. I feel bad about the whole spider thing, so the least I can do is spoil her to a night out."_

_Sam's jealousy increased and she slid away from him, standing on the opposite side of the elevator._

'_Need to make him jealous too, need to make him jealous too...' was all that ran through her mind as the elevator doors opened and she and Freddie walked head on into Spencer's flexi-glass prank. _

"_Dude, if I didn't have a little crush on you, you'd be falling from my baseball bat to your face bit..." she threw out without giving her comment much thought._

_Everyone looked a little disgruntled by her comment._

"_Little crush?" Carly remarked._

"_Did he sign the contract or not?" she covered up her previous outburst, glancing over at Freddie who looked a little uncomfortable._

_Mission accomplished_

It had all seemed easy back then when she had been unsure of Freddie's feelings for her and he had no idea of hers. Now that they were...well...together she found it much harder to make Freddie jealous on purpose. And what she was about to do...she might just be taking it too far.

She paused, taking a deep breath. She liked Kyle, and she didn't want to use him, but Freddie was driving her crazy. Carly had found them; she had seen them kissing and yet he still did everything he could to deny that they were together. She understood his reasons and shared his fears, but she was still unable to accept them.

She took another step forward, still battling within herself, the stubborn side clearly winning. She made it all the way over to Kyle, took a deep breath and then tapped him lightly on the shoulder from behind.

He turned around quickly in surprise, his look of confusion turning to one of happiness as his face broke into a huge smile.

"Hey Sam!" he greeted her, leaning forward to give her a hug. He paused when he saw her body stiffen, and he drew back.

"Sorry," he shrugged.

"It's okay," Sam said, waving her hand and stepping forward into his arms, "You can get a hug whenever you want!"

She wrapped her arms around his waist and stepped close to him, her head resting on his chest as he squeezed her tight. She took in the feeling of his arms around her, the smell of him, the way he rested his head on hers so much like Freddie did. Did this feel right? Could Kyle make her happier that Freddie? She liked hugging Kyle – it was different...in a good way. But he wasn't Freddie.

They broke apart and she sent a small smile his way as he grinned down at her.

"That hug can mean either good or bad news," Kyle said, shuffling his feet slightly, "So...have you thought about my offer?"

Sam took a deep breath. Her mind was still uncertain of her answer; would she be spiteful and remain angry towards Freddie by going to the prom with Kyle, ruining all chances of happiness she could have with him, or would she put her pride aside for once and go back to the man that she truly loved...despite all the hurt he was causing her.

"Kyle..." she started, still wrestling within herself, "I...don't know what to say to you," she said honestly, bowing her head.

Kyle smiled sadly down at her.

"You're going with the other guy who asked you, right?" he assumed.

"No!" Sam said quickly, immediately wanting to kick herself. Kyle had just handed her a ticket out of this mess, and here she was complicating things again, "It's just," she tried to explain, "I really do like you Kyle, and I don't _not_ want to go with you...I just...I can't go with you."

"Why?" Kyle asked, "Are you not allowed to go to prom or something?"

"No, it's not like that!" Sam waved her hands in front of her face, "It's...well...the other guy who asked me. I feel...obligated to go with him."

"That's not right," Kyle said, moving closer to her, "You should go with who you want to, Sam."

"It's not that easy!" she said in frustration, running a hand through her hair, trying to make sense of her thoughts, "This guy," she continued, her decision becoming final, "I'm obligated to go with him...no, I want to go with him because there are...feelings involved."

She felt her face grow hot and an awkward silence fell between the two of them as Kyle realized what she was telling him.

"Oh," he said simply, and Sam noticed his hands shaking slightly, "So you have...feelings, for this other guy then?"

Sam nodded slowly, feeling terrible about the hurt look that was plastered all over his face. The way she felt for Freddie was clearly how Kyle felt for her, and she didn't know how to handle it. She barely ever had one guy like her before, let alone two at once.

"Do I know him?" Kyle said quietly, and she could see he was itching to cause harm to something, or someone. Kyle was a sweetheart towards her, but she knew he had gotten into a few testosterone-fueled fights before, and she was all of a sudden worried for her boyfriend.

"Not well," she admitted, "Kyle, don't do anything stupid, please..." she asked politely, a first for her. Kyle shook his head.

"You don't understand," he said shakily, "There are no other girls...not one. You're the only one that I feel good with...I thought you felt it too."

"Kyle..." Sam said quietly, stepping forward and taking one of his shaking hands in both of hers, "I care about you a lot," she emphasized, "You have no idea how difficult this decision has been for me. I feel terrible...but I love him, Kyle..."

He pulled his hand from her grasp and placed both his hands on her shoulders, taking her by surprise as he gave her a little shake.

"I think I might love _you!" _he said forcefully, "Doesn't that count for anything?"

Sam remained silent, unable to answer him. He was squeezing her shoulders desperately, and she could easily throw him off if she needed to, but she was overcome by guilt at the way she was making him feel. They remained silent for a few minutes, Sam's guilt overcoming her more and more each second. This was a bad situation to be in already, and all of a sudden it would become a lot worse.

"Sam?" she heard behind her and she turned her head towards the sound, seeing Pete standing there with a determined and slightly confused look on his face, "Am I interrupting something?" he asked.

"Uh," Sam muttered, nudging Kyle's hands with her own. He let go of her shoulders and she took a step back, "A little, yeah," she admitted.

"Look," Pete started, as if he hadn't heard her, "This'll only take a minute. Sam...uh...are you going to prom with me or not?"

Sam caught her breath. Kyle stood up taller, his hands balling into fists. She looked between them, confused. Why was Pete coming across as if he had already asked her? Kyle was getting the wrong impression off the bat, and she was suddenly stuck between two guys who looked ready to fight for her answer.

Hang on – why does she have two guys, wait, three guys, fighting over her? How did this happen?

XXXXXX

"Sam!" Melanie heard behind her, and she turned around to find a blonde-haired guy running towards her, an anxious expression on his face.

"Hi..." she said uncertainly, not knowing who he was at all. She and Cary had split up only seconds before – Carly was going to get as close to the drinking fountain as possible in order to listen in on Sam and Kyle's conversation. At the exact right moment she would find a way to distract Kyle and then swoop in to grab Sam. She would drag her through the doorway right next to the fountain which led into another hallway. Melanie, positioned behind this door, would then step in to take Sam's place. She didn't have time to stand around and chat to one of Sam's pranking buddies.

"Listen Sam," Blonde Boy continued, "I know it's really late and all, but I was wondering whether you have a date for prom on Saturday night yet?"

Melanie's mouth literally fell open. Sam now had _four_ prom proposals? She didn't even know if she would get one when her prom came around later that year.

"Uh...um..." she replied in shock, not sure of what to say. Who was this guy?

"Look," he started to explain, "I know things have been a little awkward between us since the whole, uh, make-over and dating thing, but I'm not asking you because I still have feelings for you or anything. You were right back then. I'm asking because, well...I wasn't going until this morning. I was supposed to go out of town with my uncle on his boat this weekend, but my mom insisted I go to prom and got my uncle to cancel our plans. So, I need a date...and we do get along really well."

Melanie was taken aback by his speech – he had gotten right to the point, and he sincerely needed her (Sam's) help. She was compelled to help him, but what could she do? She glanced out the window behind Blonde Boy, noticing how Sam took Kyle's one hand in hers and her heart rate quickened. She needed to get out there before Carly made her move, else the entire plan would fail.

"Um..." she started, still unaware of his name, "Look, I...I want to help you out," she said in as Sam-like a manner as she could muster, "But, uh...I gotta do something first!"

With that she turned her back and ran down the hallway in the direction of the door that led out into the courtyard.

"Hang on, Sam!" he called after her, and Melanie heard him follow her.

'_Boys!'_ Melanie thought to herself, giving up her sprint towards the door near Sam and Carly and deciding to chance cutting across the courtyard instead. The Blonde Boy would ruin everything if he followed her to where the real Sam was. Thankfully he hadn't noticed her yet.

She launched herself through another door, the sharp sun from outside temporarily blinding her. Her eyes adjusted quickly as she kept running, dodging people and heading for the fountain centre piece. She dove behind it, crouching behind the small wall that encircled it. Students who were sitting on it eyed her warily, but, thinking she was Sam on the verge of another prank, ignored her. Melanie saw her follower burst through the door she had come through, then stop and look around for her (Sam). She ducked her head as he neared the fountain, his head turning in every direction. She felt bad for him – she really had wanted to say yes to him, but she was Sam right now and Sam had enough prom troubles of her own.

Melanie chanced a glance over the small wall again, looking to see if Blonde Boy had left. She sighed when she didn't see him, and glanced towards Kyle and Sam to see if Carly was ready to make her move yet. When she saw Mr. Blonde talking to the real Sam her heart jumped into her throat.

'_Uh-oh..._' she thought to herself, '_Not good!"_

Her cellphone buzzed at that moment and she answered it immediately when she saw who it was.

"We've got trouble Mels!" Carly whispered anxiously into the phone.

"No kidding!" Melanie said, peeking over the fountain wall at the scene that was about to unfold.

"This is bigger than we thought," Carly continued, "Sam turned Kyle down, but it looks like he isn't going to take no for an answer. It looks like he wants to beat up the other guy taking Sam to prom, aka Freddie. Sam was trying to calm him down but now Pete has showed up. We need to rethink our plan!"

"Okay..." Melanie said anxiously, the wheels in her head turning, "Carly, I need you to bring Freddie to the courtyard – tell him the plan is the same, we're just changing locations. Also tell him to watch out for Kyle...there's definitely going to be some drama when he gets here."

"Got it," Carly said, "What about you?"

"I'm going to see if I can hold off the fight that's about to happen," Melanie said, watching as Kyle stepped forward and shoved Pete backwards.

"Hurry!" Carly said, and Melanie heard the line go dead as Carly ran off to get Freddie. She took a deep breath and stood up, jumping over the small wall and heading towards the fight that had started.

XXXXXXX

Sam was SO confused.

"Uh, Pete?" Sam said quietly, stepping towards him and drawing him aside briefly, "What are you talking about?" she whispered.

"Funny one," Pete said, grinning at her and ruffling her hair, "You're gonna help me out, right?"

"Pete!" Sam said more urgently, "I honestly have no idea-"

"This is the guy?" Kyle said loudly, cutting off Sam's whispered conversation with Pete. He stepped forward, grabbing Sam's arm and pulling her to his side, "This is the guy you say you're in love with? The one taking you to prom?"

"No, no I-" Sam tried to say.

"Woah, seriously Sam?" Pete said, his eyes sparkling, "You're in love with me?"

"No!" Sam shouted, seeing the danger that was lurking in Kyle's tone and body language.

"You didn't know?" Kyle asked, stepping forward and shoving Pete backwards. Sam yanked her arm from Kyle's grasp and tried to stop Pete from falling on his butt.

"Woah, come on man!" Pete said in shock, stumbling a little but managing to remain upright, "What's your problem?"

"She turned me down for you," Kyle said angrily, pointing an accusing finger at Sam and Pete in turn.

"No, I didn't!" Sam said loudly, but the boys weren't listening to her.

"Dude, I didn't ask her to do that!" Pete retorted, "It's her choice who she goes to prom with. I can't help it if she's in love with me!"

"I'm not in love with you!" Sam said, getting between them as Kyle tried to shove Pete again, "I'm not in love with _either_ of you!"

"Guys, calm down!" Melanie shouted as she entered the circle that a small crowd had formed around the fighting trio.

The crowd and the guys alike went quiet as they saw, in their eyes, another Sam.

"Mels!" Sam shouted, "What are you doing here?"

"Saving you," Melanie shrugged, "It was supposed to be an emotional rescue, but it seems like it's become a lot more of a physical thing now."

Sam laughed, "I can take care of myself sis,"

"Yeah," Melanie agreed with her, "But no one seems to be listening to you, so allow me to talk you out of this mess?"

Sam stepped back and gestured for her sister to take the floor.

"Be my guest," she said kindly, "Kyle, Pete, this is my twin sister, Melanie. Since neither of you Neanderthals seem to be listening to me, maybe she can talk some sense into you."

"This is some weird prank, right?" Kyle said, shocked by Melanie's appearance.

"Cool!" Pete exclaimed, "I didn't know you had a twin sister Sam!"

Melanie turned to Pete, batting her eyelashes in the flirty manner she often portrayed when she received a compliment.

"Thanks for being the first of Sam's friends to believe I'm real," she said, before turning back to Kyle. Pete blushed slightly at her flirty demeanor.

"Okay, firstly," Melanie said in her 'let's-get-to-business' voice, "Kyle. Sam really does like you. If you had asked her to prom a month ago she would have said yes without a second thought. Unfortunately, you're too late. Deal with it. She's been trying to spare your feelings, but you've been making it difficult for her. Accept her decision and move on. Secondly, she's not in love with Pete, nor is she going to prom with Pete. Thirdly," Melanie turned towards Pete, "If Pete still needs a date I will be happy to go with him – technically you did ask me anyway."

Melanie smiled at Pete's surprised face before turning back to Kyle and Sam, "Do you understand now Kyle? There's no need to beat Pete or anyone else up. Sam's in love with a great guy, and they're going to prom together. Find yourself another date. There are TONS of girls who would want to go with you."

Sam nodded her head and grinned at her sister. It was an impressive speech and the crowd around them was struck silent.

"Sam's in love?" a girl who was at the front of the crowd asked, "Wow! With who?"

Melanie smiled sadly over at Sam; she had bowed her head, knowing she couldn't say anything. As much as she hated keeping secrets she still had to respect Freddie's wishes. Even though it would be so much easier to just come out and say it, she couldn't do it. The only person who could was-

"Me," she heard from behind them, and she turned to find Freddie standing in the doorway that led into the hall, Carly at his shoulder and another crowd of people behind him. He stepped forward into the circle and the crowd behind him joined the throng already around them. He had Ms. Briggs bullhorn clutched in his hands.

"I stole Ms. Briggs' bullhorn," he said, holding it up so Sam could see, "I've been gathering people all around the school with it. Seems like I didn't really need it after all..."

He dropped the bullhorn at his feet and stepped over it, ignoring everyone around them and staring only at Sam.

"Why?" Sam asked, looking from the bullhorn to him in confusion.

"I wanted everyone to be around when I said this," Freddie said, shrugging his shoulders and taking a deep breath for strength.

"I've been an idiot Sam," he started, and Sam remained silent, shocked by what he was doing, "You were right all along. I don't need to worry about people breaking us apart because of stupid expectations. We don't need to lie, and sneak around to be happy. It'll never keep us happy. I..." he gulped, glancing around him at all the expectant faces staring at him.

"I love you Sam," he said, stepping closer to her, "I love you, and I want you to go to prom with me...as my girlfriend."

Sam smiled at him as he stepped even closer, taking her in his arms.

"And I want the whole world to know!" he said loudly, but before he could say anything more Sam wrapped her arms around his neck, jumped up and kissed him full on the mouth in front of the whole school.

The girls erupted into fits of "_Aww's"_ and tiny squeals, while the guys cheered for the two web stars in front of them.

Sam and Freddie broke apart, laughing at the reactions around them, and soon they were surrounded by people who were hugging them, clapping them on the back and laughing with them.

In the crowd Melanie felt a hand tug at her arm and she looked around to see Pete smiling at her.

"Hi," he said, extending his hand out to her, "I'm Pete."

"Melanie," she said, smiling as she shook his hand.

"So...prom?" Pete asked shyly and Melanie giggled in her typical girly way.

"Sure," she replied, "But how about some lunch first?"

"Sounds great!" Pete agreed, and he led her out of the crowd to one of the tables in the courtyard.

Sam and Freddie were still being engulfed by their friends who were amazed by recent developments.

"When did _this_ happen?" Gibby asked as he wrapped his arms around Sam's waist and picked her up.

"Dude, _why_?" one of Freddie's friends from the AV club asked.

"Awesome bro," Brad, iCarly's new intern, congratulated Freddie with a slap on the shoulder.

"Never pegged you as one who would fall for a nerd," Carly teased Sam, who hugged her friend in relief.

Freddie felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned around, ending up face to face with Kyle. The crowd that still lingered fell silent.

"I love her," Kyle whispered into Freddie's face, "She's mine!"

He pulled back his arm and Freddie threw out an arm to block the punch Kyle was about to throw, but a yell caught his attention. Gibby launched himself into Kyle's side and knocked him flat on his back.

"Come on man," Gibby shouted, "This is so unnecessary!"

Kyle threw Gibby off and stood up, going for Freddie again. This time Sam intervened. She got in between Kyle and her boyfriend, knocking Kyle's legs out from under him and clambering onto his back when he landed face first at Freddie's feet. She grabbed his leg and bent it backwards, making him cry out in pain. Sam held on and leant forward, hissing into his ear.

"Don't make me have to do this Kyle," she warned him, "I like you, but you're starting to piss me off."

She let go of his leg and stood up.

"Get outta here!" she shouted at him, and he stood up, a defeated look on his face.

"Sam, what was that?" he asked.

"You think you know me," Sam said, "But you only know one side. You might not like what you see when you get to know the real me. Freddie_ knows_ the real me. You can't change that! Now go!"

Kyle threw one last death glare towards Freddie before he stalked off, leaving Sam huffing with anger. Freddie stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Well," he started, "There's a complication we didn't see coming..." he pointed out.

"No kidding," Sam breathed.

XXXXXXX

Friday passed almost like a dream for Sam; she and Melanie spent Thursday night at Carly's, investing in some well-needed girl talk. Sam filled Carly in on everything that had happened between her and Freddie, with some help from Melanie, and they explained it thoroughly so that Carly would understand why they had kept it a secret and why she shouldn't be angry. Carly was too elated by the romance of it all to feel much anger towards her two best friends, and the conversation moved to prom soon after that.

The next morning Freddie had gotten Carly and Sam for school at Carly's apartment as usual, but this time he greeted Sam with a kiss and '_Good morning Princess'_. This caused Sam to blush, punch him for calling her princess in front of Carly and kiss him again in gratitude. Spencer almost fainted when he rounded the corner and saw Sam kissing Freddie. The girls had neglected to inform him of recent events in all the excitement of the previous day, and when the situation was fully explained to him he squealed very much like a girl, screamed "I knew it!" and proceeded to leap around the kitchen chanting _'Sed-die! Sed-die!_' until they left the apartment.

Sam and Carly drove with Freddie to school in his car, and their morning classes passed as usual. Lunch time made the day even better for Sam – it was Fishsticks Friday and she spent the entire lunch period lounging with Freddie on the grass in the courtyard area, in full sight of the entire school. They ate fishsticks, discussed prom arrangements, kissed and laughed happily when Carly and Adam joined for their first informal double date.

"And you thought Carly and I had a thing going on," Freddie teased Adam, punching his shoulder as he gave a sheepish smile.

"Your fans raised a few valid points!" he tried to defend himself, and the ex-frenemy's laughed at his expression.

Last period was free period – Freddie usually spent time in the AV Clubroom at this time on a Friday while Sam tried to steal the leftover fishsticks for herself, but this Friday they decided to make use of the empty music room. When the final bell rang they were red-faced and breathless again, and they made their way to Freddie's car hand-in-hand, planning on meeting Carly and Adam there.

On their way out of the music room they ran into a familiar face. Kyle had his music notes in hand again as Freddie and Sam left the room, clearly having just had a serious make-out session. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw him, and he narrowed his eyes at them.

"You two enjoy torturing me, don't you?" he said sourly, stepping past them. Sam noticed his hands shaking again.

"Kyle..." Sam tried to make up, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

"You're not who I thought you were Sam," Kyle said harshly. She drew back her hand in surprise, "I thought you were different from other girls...you were right when you said I'd only seen a part of you. You showed me the part you wanted me to see...the part that made me fall for you. But now," he said, entering the classroom and making to shut the door, "Now I see the real you. And you're right – I don't like what I see."

He closed the door with a snap, and Sam stepped back, hurt by his dismissal of her. Freddie wrapped an arm around her waist and pressed his lips to her ear.

"Don't worry about him," Freddie whispered as he tugged her away from the classroom, "He's just upset. He'll come 'round soon."

Sam nodded and willingly fell into step with him, linking her hand in his and forcing herself to forget the pained look on Kyle's face.

Sam, Freddie, Carly, Adam, Melanie and Pete piled into Freddie's car after school, Carly and Melanie sitting on their respective prom dates laps in order to fit. They were all planning on doing some prom preparation that afternoon before iCarly. The iCarly that night was also centered around prom, so it tied in with preparing for their show.

They reached the mall and the girls and guys split up from there, running their respective errands. The girls tried on dress after dress in store after store. Sam was exhausted after trying on her third dress already, but the constant egging on from both Carly and Melanie kept her trying on more and more dresses despite her complaints. As grateful as she was for her friends input she swore to never go shopping with both of them again – they were a force to be reckoned with. By 6pm the girls had all found a dress, shoes, earrings, make-up etc, and they met up with their dates (who had been waiting two hours already) for a quick supper before they rushed home to make it in time for iCarly.

"Welcome to iCarly!" the two web-show hosts shouted together as Freddie completed his countdown.

"I'm in a dress!" Carly said, twirling around in one of her many cute dresses that she liked to wear.

"Which is normal," Sam said into the camera, coming close to the camera and dancing across the lens.

"And she's pretty in pink!" Carly said, pointing at Sam who twirled on the spot, showing off the dress she wore for the Miss Seattle Pageant a few years ago.

"Which is totally out of character!" Sam exclaimed, causing a laugh from the group behind Freddie.

"Oh yeah," Carly said, bending over and ripping the dress off of Sam from bottom to top. They had cut the dress earlier that evening and placed Velcro strips on the cut edges so that they could tear it off in the show. Sam didn't mind sacrificing the dress – it was horrible compared to her prom dress that she would be wearing tomorrow. Under the dress Sam was wearing jeans and a tank top.

"Much better!" Sam said, placing her hands on her hips and kicking the dress aside.

"So, why was Sam in a dress?" Carly asked, putting on a fake tone of surprise.

"I don't know Carly!" Sam put on an even more fake tone, scrunching up her face in mock ignorance, "Why was I in a dress?"

"Could it be because tomorrow is..." Carly paused for dramatic effect.

"PROM!" they shouted together as confetti fell from the ceiling. Sam broke into a prom-themed rap while the music continued to play in the background.

The show was centered around embarrassing prom video's as well as holding an online video competition on who wanted to be Gibby's date to prom. At the end Carly called Adam over and introduced him as her boyfriend and prom date, then introduced Melanie on screen for the first time along with her date, Pete. Finally Carly threw a knowing smile in Freddie's direction and Sam made a small groan.

"Do we have to?" she asked, swaying on the spot.

"Yes, you have to!" Carly teased her friend, laughing as she indicated that Gibby take the camera from Freddie, "We all did it."

"But it's so mushy!" Sam complained and Freddie chuckled as he handed the camera over to Gibby.

"Okay iCarly fans," Carly hopped in front of the camera, a huge smile in place, "The time has come to introduce Sam and Freddie's prom dates to you!"

Sam hit the cheer button on her remote as Freddie stood next to her, squeezing her hand behind their backs.

"First," Carly said, dancing over to them, "Freddie."

A drum roll could be heard as Adam hit the effects button on Freddie's laptop.

"Freddie's date is..." Carly paused for dramatic effect, "Sam!"

Sam hit the cheer button again.

"So, Sam's date must be Freddie then!" Carly danced around them happily. "Is there something we should know Sam and Freddie?" Carly nudged them teasingly.

"Yeah..." Sam said unenthusiastically – true to character.

"Actually," Freddie interrupted her, "Instead of telling them, maybe we should show them?" Freddie looked at Sam mischievously, and she caught on, giving a small nod. She stepped toward the camera, all shyness gone.

"For all you crazy Seddie/Creddie whatever fans that are watching...try not to break your laptops."

With that said she wrapped her arms around Freddie and allowed him to kiss her full on the mouth in front of millions of their loyal viewers. The kiss lasted a few seconds, but it still left Sam breathless.

"On second thought," she said, turning her head to the camera, "Throw your laptops out the window! I don't care!"

She turned her head and kissed Freddie again, lifting her one arm in the air and hitting the cheer button on her remote as Carly closed off the show.

"That's it for iCarly this week!" she shouted above the noise of the cheering and music, "Tune in next week to see and hear more about our prom! And please, don't throw your laptops out the window...we need you to tune in next week...bye!"

Sam and Freddie broke apart once more as Gibby announced they were clear, goofy smiles over each of their faces.

"Now everybody knows," Freddie said.

"Yup," Sam whispered.

"A lot's going to change now, you know..." he said.

"Na," Sam shook her head, "Everything is going to be exactly like it should...like it should have been from the beginning.

Freddie smiled and hugged her close. The night on the fire escape came rushing back to him and he chuckled into Sam's hair. That night...that kiss...had truly changed it all.

**THE END**

**(for now)**

**To be continued in "The Year that Changed it All"**

XXXXXXX

_The end! Look out for The Year that Changed it All! You can see a trailer for it on my YouTube channel IamMuchan7! ;) Thanks to all my loyal reviewers – please don't abandon me now that this fic is finished!_

_I will be posting a bonus chapter (titled Ridgeway Prom) for those who would like to read some general Seddie fluff before jumping straight into the sequel. ;)_

_Hugs! Love you all!_

_IamMu-chan_


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